Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka (RASSL) Lecture-on “One Hundred Years of Education for Blind Persons in Sri Lankaâ€ÂÂÂon Tuesday 30th October 2012 at 5.00 p.m.
Posted on October 28th, 2012
Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka (RASSL) Lecture
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
on
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-One Hundred Years of Education for Blind Persons
in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
by
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Professor D.P.M. Weerakkody
Dept.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of Classical Languages, University of Peradeniya
on Tuesday 30th October 2012ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ at 5.00 p.m.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
at the
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Gamini Dissanayake Auditorium,
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
No. 96, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, ColomboƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 07
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ALL ARE WELCOME
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Beginning with the commencement in 1912, of the School forƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Deaf and Blind, Ratmalana, the lecture surveys the progress ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ education for the blind in Sri Lanka, covering residential schools asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ well as integrated and inclusive education, contributions of variousƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ individuals and organizations, and the facilities available to blind students.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Professor Weerakkody, after graduating from the University of Peradeniya withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ First Class Honours, received a Doctorate in Classics from the University of Hull for his thesis “Aspects of the Acquaintance with Taprobane as revealed by the Greek and Roman Writers”. It is regarded as the singularly important work by a South Asian who successfully ventured into an arena hitherto dominated by western scholars. His book Taprobane: Ancient Sri Lanka as known to Greeks and Romans (1997) published by Brepols Turnhout in Belgium as the first volume in the series INDICOPLEUSTOI commemorating the 200th. His most significant recent contribution is the translation of Plato’s Republic directly from the Greek to Sinhala.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Prof. Weerakkody was the first and only blind person in Sri Lanka to obtain a Ph.D. and become a full university professor. He has held two prestigious fellowships: the Commonwealth University Staff Fellowship (1987-1988) at University of Nottingham, and the SAARC Fellowship (2000-2001) at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.