This month we begin a book reading series on the problems in Sri Lanka’s education system and possible solutions. We will do this by looking at Ruptures in Sri Lanka’s Education, a collection of articles by Panduka Karunanayake, a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Colombo.…
In times where many are struggling due to the crises in the country, and grappling with decision of whether or not to leave the country, I have been reflecting on the decision I made to return to Sri Lanka in January 2020, after completing my doctoral studies in Australia… Often the conversations around returning to the country centre around the question of “is it really worth returning?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have landed at Schipol airport in Amsterdam”. These are the words that would many hear, as they begin a new life in the west. Wherever the destination, there is a steady exodus of Sri Lankans leaving a country ravaged by war.…
‘It is unfortunate that our academics and intellectuals are yet to engage rigorously with the vast literature on neoliberalism, but I also see that as a consequence of their class character, and how they are beholden to Western interests, be it donor-funded research projects or neoclassical economic analysis perpetuated in the Western academy.’
- Ahilan Kadirgamar
- Ahilan Kadirgamar
Deep down in our hearts, we all want to find and fulfil a purpose bigger than ourselves. Only such a larger purpose can inspire us to heights we know we could never reach on our own. For each of us, the real purpose is personal and passionate: to do what we are here to do, and why?
- Os Guinness
- Os Guinness
This video streamed in September 2020 is the 5th of a 5-part series of webinars done for Christian Academics in South Asia by the IFES South Asia Academics Network. In this video, Vinoth Ramachandra discusses the Academic’s responsibility to the Church.
When I began life as an undergrad in the Sri Lankan state university system, we were invited to reflect on God’s surprising message to the exiled population in Babylon - “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:7). Regardless of whether one should be likening the state university experience to exile or not, the call to actively pray for the prosperity of those who are seen to be in opposition to you is a tough pill to swallow.
This video streamed in September 2020 is the 4th of a 5-part series of webinars done for Christian Academics in South Asia by the IFES South Asia Academics Network. In this video, Vinoth Ramachandra discusses the Academic's responsibility towards his/her Society.
Last year, Vinoth Ramachandra gave a series of talks on how academics should engage the university. Like many of us, I watched them with a lot of interest. And yet I couldn’t shake the sense that, while he was right at the general level, the Sri Lankan context asks for something quite different from us. This post consists of a set of questions that have been rattling around inside me for a while now. The fundamental question behind everything else I have written is: how can Christian academics, given our history in Sri Lanka, where our society is right now, and the possibilities of a university, be witnesses to the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord?
“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God;
for whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his labours as God did from his.”
Hebrews 4:9-10.
for whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his labours as God did from his.”
Hebrews 4:9-10.
In my short career as an academic, I have felt Hebrews 4:9-10 applies to every other profession, but mine. At this rate, I know I will be burnt out by the seventh year requiring a Sabbatical to recover.