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This is the Vogue of the English Department. We issue weekly writeups about everything juicy that's happening in our department!

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"Blink": Over the years

The history of English literary magazines in Sri Lanka dates back to the 1940s, a period in which the English graduates were highly encouraged by the English departments of the local universities to showcase their critical thinking skills and creativity. Harvest (1945-46), Symposium (1948-50), Points of view (1952) and Community (1954-58/ 1962-63) were founded by the graduates in English who were eager to contribute to the field of English language and literature. However, the socio-political context of the country after eight years of gaining independence (1956s) saw certain upheavals in the paradigm of English education in Sri Lanka, both in the school and university levels. Professor D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke writes to the Encyclopaedia of Postcolonial Literatures in English (2005) that “English was displaced from its pre-eminent position as the official language and as the medium of instruction in schools and universities”. Therefore, the literary journals which gained pub...

T aking a Stand: The Department of English and it's Anti -Ragging Policy W hite hairbands, rubber slippers, plastic files, thel bedima, bucket eka, card eka—the undergraduates of the University of Kelaniya are all too familiar with the notorious practices and terminology that constitute the so-called process of initiating new undergraduates into the university. This practice of initiation, in other words, is known as ragging. Ragging is considered to be a rite of passage for all new entrants; it is seen to be a practice that fosters close bonds between first-year undergraduates and their seniors; and an intrinsic facet of the subculture within institutions for higher education—by some. The Department of English of the University of Kelaniya, however, does not see eye to eye with such claimants. It recognizes ragging as an ‘act which causes or is likely to cause physical or psychological injury, fear or mental pain in an undergraduate’ (University of Colombo) (n.d), an...

The Department of English: A Real Space for Intellectual and Political Empowerment

The Department of English of the University of Kelaniya is a stalwart space of knowledge, guidance and empowerment amid politically turbulent and ideologically stagnant realities that seek to centralize intellect and politics to the dominant ideologies. Situated within an integrated ambience of critical postmodernist and feminist sentiments, the Department of English enables self-empowerment and refinement of its students through the variety of courses offered through its General and Honours degree programmes. These courses prepare students for a life of critical engagement with the world around them while encouraging self-reflexivity and self-actualization. Courses in the first year of the General Degree programme offer compulsory modules s...

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