Colonial museology and the Buddhist chronicles of Sri Lanka: agency and negotiation in the development of the palm-leaf manuscript collection at the Colombo Museum

The roles of colonial museums in South Asia have been understood in terms of the dissemination of museology within the British Empire. This has often underplayed the participation of local intellectuals in the formation of museum collections, and thus has not recognized their agency in the creation of knowledge and of longstanding cultural assets. This article addresses this in part through an historical case study of the development of the palm-leaf manuscript collection at the Colombo Museum in nineteenth century Ceylon. The article focuses on the relationships between Government aims, local intellectuals and the Buddhist clergy. I argue that colonial museology and collecting activity in Ceylon ought to be understood as a negotiated process and a number of reasons for this are discussed. This article contributes to an area of museological research that is exploring the roles of indigenous actors in colonial collecting and museum practice in South Asia and broader geographical contexts.

Interethnic understanding and the teaching of local languages in Sri Lanka

 In precolonial times, equal socioeducational recognition accorded to local languages played a key role in promoting inter-ethnic harmony, co-existence and 'connectedness' between linguistically and ethnically .diverse people of Sri Lanka. This history should motivate policy considerations in postcolonial situations in the country. This chapter has its focus on educational issues surrounding the promotion of local languages for interethnic harmony in Sri Lanka, where the promotion of Sinhala among minority Tamils, and Tamil among the majority Sinhalese has been the subject of many current political, policy and popular discourses. Proficiency in the local languages was encouraged actively through policies and practices during precolonial times. However, despite popular thinking that there is an acute need to promote Tamil, its manifestation as a classroom subject in school education curricula for the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils in post-war Sri Lanka has been lost in the public and policy discourses. Using archival records and opinions expressed in newspapers as data, this chapter explores these ambiguities in attitudes, policies and practices from precolonial times to the present day.

Use of geographical information system and remote sensing techniques for planning culture-based fisheries in non-perennial reservoirs of Sri Lanka

 The presence of a wide areal extent of small-sized village reservoirs offers a considerable potential for the development of culture-based fisheries (CBFs) in Sri Lanka. To this end, this study uses geographical information systems (GISs) and remote sensing (RS) techniques to determine the morphometric and biological characteristics most useful for classifying non-perennial reservoirs for CBF development and for assessing the influence of catchment land-use patterns on potential CBF yields. The reservoir shorelines at full water supply level were mapped with a Global Positioning System to determine shoreline length and reservoir areal extent. The ratio of shoreline length to reservoir extent, which was reported to be a powerful predictor variable of CBF yields, could be reliably quantified using RS techniques. The areal extent of reservoirs, quantified with RS techniques (RS extent), was used to estimate the ratio of forest cover plus scrubland cover to RS extent and was found to be significantly related to the CBF yield (R2 = 0.400; P < 0.05). The results of this study indicated that morphometric characteristics and catchment land-use patterns, which might be viewed as indices of biological productivity, can be quantified using RS and GIS techniques. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Australia’s Colombo plans, old and new: international students as foreign relations

This article draws on recent research and policy developments to make a case for considering international students as an important component of Australian foreign relations. It links historical and contemporary Australian experiences of international students, especially in the Colombo Plan and New Colombo Plan, to the field of public diplomacy, and sets an agenda for further research in this direction. It highlights the need to recover student voices and to be sensitive to the emergence of everyday or ‘vernacular’ internationalism, as a phenomenon of international students visiting, traveling and otherwise encountering different groups of Australians. It suggests a need to take up anew this form of inquiry for both earlier postwar student experiences and the post-1980s period, in which international students’ voices are frequently silenced by debates over commodification, funding needs, and neo-liberal economics.

Generic skills in accounting education in a developing country: exploratory evidence from Sri Lanka

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the generic skills developed during the undergraduate degree from the perspectives of final year undergraduates and graduate employers. Design/methodology/approach - The list of generic skills tested in this study was contextualized to Sri Lanka and developed based on prior studies. Data obtained from stakeholders via a questionnaire survey was analyzed using paired sample t-test; independent sample t-test; principal component analysis; and one-way analysis of variance, with a view to explore, evaluate and compare respondents' perspectives. Findings - The findings revealed both stakeholders believe that most of the generic skills tested in this study are important for graduates' career success. Consistent with prior studies, respondents prioritized generic skills for career success above technical skills. Final year accounting undergraduates are aware of the skill expectations in the employment market. However, they perceive that most of the important generic skills are not adequately developed during the degree. Practical implications - Findings of this study inform the importance of adopting a holistic approach to the redesign of the accounting curricula to accommodate generic skill development during the degree. Suggestions include: establishing strong links between universities, professional accounting institutions and employers; introducing participatory methods of curriculum design; and assimilating continuous reviews and frequent updates to curricula. Originality/value - Sri Lanka, a developing country, was selected for this research given that little has been reported in the literature in terms of generic skills development of accounting graduates in developing countries.

March 2007: United States Foreign Relations

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Genesis of metasomatic sapphirine-corundum-spinel-bearing granulites in Sri Lanka

The goal of the present study is to understand the mechanism of mass transfer, the composition and the role of fluids during crustal metasomatism in high-temperature metamorphic terranes. A well constrained case study, a locality at Rupaha, Sri Lanka was selected. It is located in the Highland Complex of Sri Lanka, which represents a small, but important fragment of the super-continent Gondwana. Excellent exposures of ultramafic rocks, which are embedded in granulites, were found at 10 localities. These provide a unique background for understanding the metasomatic processes. The boundary between the ultramafic and the granulite rocks are lined with metasomatic reaction zones up to 50cm in width. Progressing from the ultramafics to the granulite host rock, three distinct zones with the following mineral assemblages can be distinguished: (1). phlogopite + spinel + sapphirine, (2). spinel + sapphirine and (3). corundum + biotite + plagioclase. In order to assess the P-T-t path, the peak metamorphism and the exhumation history were constrained using different thermobarometers, as well as a diffusion model of garnet zoning. A maximum temperature of 875 ± 20oC (Opx-Cpx thermometer) and at the peak pressure of 9.0 ± 0.1 kbar (Grt-Cpx-Pl-Qtz) was calculated for the silicic granulite. The ultramafic rocks recorded a peak temperature of 840 ± 70oC (Opx-Cpx thermometer) at 9 kbar. Coexisting spinel and sapphirine from the reaction zone yield a temperature of 820 ± 40oC. This is in agreement with the peak-temperatures recorded in the adjacent granulites and ultramafics rocks. The structural concordance of the ultramafic rocks with the siliceous granulite host rock further support the suggestion, that all units have experienced the same peak metamorphism. Diffusion modeling of retrograde zoning in garnets from mafic granulites suggests a three-step cooling history. A maximum cooling rate of 1oC/Ma is estimated during the initial stage of cooling, followed by a cooling rate of ~30oC/Ma. The outermost rims of garnet indicate a slightly slower cooling rate at about 10-15oC/Ma. The sequences of mineral zones, containing a variety of Al-rich, silica undersaturated minerals in the reaction zones separating the ultramafic rocks from the silica-rich rocks can be explained by a diffusion model. This involves the diffusion of Mg from ultramafic rocks across the layers, and K and Si diffuse in opposite direction. Chemical potential of Mg and Si generated continuous monotonic gradient, allowing steady state diffusional transport across the profile. The strong enrichment in Al, and the considerable loss of Si, during the formation of reaction bands can be inferred from isocon diagrams. Some Al was probably added to the reaction zones, while Si was lost. This is most likely due to fluids percolating parallel to the zones at the boundary of the rock units. This study has shown that not only pressure and temperature conditions but most importantly PH2O and the concentration of the chlorine and fluorine in aqueous fluids also control the mass transport in different geological environments.