Inauguration of the New Honours Degree Programme in Communication and Creative Arts

The inaugural ceremony for the first batch of students of the honours degree programme in Communication and Creative Arts, offered for the first time in a Sri Lankan university was held on 25 August 2022 at the auditorium of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The Vice Chancellor Senior Professor (Chair) H.D. Karunaratne graced the occasion as the chief guest and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Senior Professor Lasantha Manawadu including Deans from other faculties, Heads of the departments of the Faculty of Arts participated in the event. The Registrar, Mr K.A.S Edward and senior members of the administrative staff also attended the event.
The inaugural ceremony was held as a colorful event with the participation of veteran artistes from the fields of cinema, theatre, music, literature and performing arts along with senior journalists. Veteran artistes and senior journalists including Sriyani Amarasena, Veena Jayakody, Kamal Addaraarachchi, Nissanka Diddeniya, Saman Athawudahetti, Lakshman Mendis, Tilakarathne Kuruvita Bandara, Siri Ranasinge, Buddhadasa Galappatty, Gamini Weragama, Ravibandhu Vidyapathy, Pradeepa Dharmadasa, Vimukthi Jayasundera and Asoka Dias attended the event. The academics from other universities including Senior Professor Ariyarathne Athugala, Professor Praneeth Abhayasundera, Senior Lecturers Indika Upamali, Wijayananda Rupasinghe, Aruna Lokuliyana and Mangala Keerthi de Pasqual also participated in the ceremony.
The Vice Chancellor Professor Karunaratne in his speech commended the introduction of the new honours degree programme which would widen the academic scope of the University of Colombo. The Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Manawadu emphasized the value and the diversity that the new honours degree programme would bring to the Faculty of Arts. The Head of the Journalism Unit, Senior Professor Samantha Herath delivered a speech by introducing the new honours degree in Communication and Creative Arts. The significance and the timely relevance of the new degree programme was highlighted by Professor Athugala in his speech. The dancing items of the inaugural ceremony were choreographed by veteran artiste Ravibandhu Vidyapathy and the musical performances were done by veteran artistes Kamal Addaraarachchi, Indika Upamali and Pradeepa Dharmadasa.
After the inaugural ceremony, a technical session was conducted at the Faculty of Arts premises to provide knowledge on the curriculum and the technical aspects of the degree programme. Professor Chandana Aluthge, Head of the Department of Economics provided an overview of the technical aspects and the expected learning outcomes of the new degree programme. The Director of the Information and Documentation Centre of the University of Colombo, Dr Mahinda Pushpakumara spoke to the students regarding the selection of course units and the relevant technical aspects. The inaugural ceremony was compered by Lecturer Chalika Thangarajah and vote of thanks was delivered by Lecturer Fathima Shanaz of the Journalism Unit. The technical session was moderated by Lecturer Krishan Siriwardhana.
The new honours degree programme in Communication and Creative Arts has been introduced by the Journalism Unit under the leadership of Professor Samantha Herath. The newly introduced degree programme in Communication and Creative Arts was developed in order to address a long-felt need for an honours degree programme in Communication and Creative Arts. The degree programme consists of unique and up-to-date course units that would widen the academic scope of the Faculty of Arts. The creative arts component of the degree programme is a novel and timely initiative to the Faculty of Arts and it addresses the specific need for an academic programme focusing on creative arts. The unique identity of this programme is that it combines communication, media and creative arts which are inseparably interrelated components of the discipline. The honours degree in Communication and Creative Arts is designed as an interdisciplinary programme by bringing the creative arts orientation to the study of Communication. The programme aims to produce graduates who are competent in both theoretical and practical aspects of Communication and Creative Arts.