| Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya | |
| Established: | 1942 |
| Type: | Public |
| Dean: | Prof. A.M. Navarathna Bandara |
| City: | Peradeniya |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
| Students: | 3614 |
| Undergrad: | 2905 |
| Postgrad: | 709 |
| Faculty: | 201 |
| Campus: | Suburban |
Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya is the largest single faculty in the entire university system of Sri Lanka.[1]
| Foundation of Departments of the Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya | ||
|---|---|---|
| Department | Year Founded | |
| Department of Classical Languages | 1942 | |
| Department of English | 1942 | |
| Department of Geography | 1942 | |
| Department of History | 1942 | |
| Department of Philosophy | 1942 | |
| Department of Oriental Languages (Dissolved in 1943) | 1942 | |
| Department of Economics | 1942 | |
| Department of Tamil | 1943 | |
| Department of Pali | 1943 | |
| Department of Sanskrit | 1943 | |
| Department of Sinhalese | 1943 | |
| Department of Law | 1945 | |
| Department of Arabic | 1945 | |
| Department of Sociology | 1949 | |
| Department of Education | 1949 | |
| Department of Modern Languages | 1949 | |
| Department of Archaeology | 1959 | |
| Department of Buddhist Philosophy | 1964 | |
| Department of Fine Arts | 2001 | |
| Department of Management Studies | 2002 | |
Faculty's history dates back to the beginning of Sri Lanka's university system. Sri Lanka's first university, University of Ceylon is established in 1942 under the guidance of Sir Ivor Jennings. Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Oriental Studies were two of the 4 academic faculties in the university.[2] They were located in Colombo at the beginning. With the establishment of the Peradeniya campus, those faculties were brought to Peradeniya in 1952. The two faculties operated separately until they were amalgamated in 1972.
Faculty of Arts offers a number of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
Faculty has 16 academic departments for undergraduate study. Traditional degrees offered at undergraduate level are; Bachelor of Arts (General), Bachelor of Arts (Special) – in 18 different disciplines and Bachelor of Commerce. Other than that, faculty has started conducting two new degree programs, Bachelor of Business Administration and LLB in recent years.
Arts faculty of the University of Perdeniya has 18 departments, Units and centers. Those departments are separately established for provide course enrollments.
| S.No | Departments and Units | avenue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Department of Archaeology | Main Arts building (MA) | |
| 02 | Department of Arabic and Islamic civilization | Main Arts building (MA) | |
| 03 | Department of Classical Languages | Main Arts building (MA) | |
| 04 | Department of Economic and Statistics | New Arts Building (NA) | |
| 05 | Department of Education | Jasuriya Building (JB) | |
| 06 | Department of English | Main Arts building (MA) | |
| 07 | Department of Fine Arts | A-4 Building | |
| 08 | Department of Geography | Geography Building (GB) | |
| 09 | Department of History | Main Arts building (MA) | |
| 10 | Department of Law | A-5 Building | |
| 11 | Department of Management Studies | New Arts Building (NA) | |
| 12 | Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies | Main Arts building (MA) | |
| 13 | Department of Philosophy and Physoclogy | New Arts Building (NA) | |
| 14 | Department of Political Science | New Arts Building (NA) | |
| 15 | Department of Sinhalese | Main Arts building (MA) | |
| 16 | Department of Sociology | New Arts Building (NA) | |
| 17 | Department of Tamil | Main Arts building (MA) | |
| 18 | Post Graduate Unit | Post Graduate Building (PG) | |
| 19 | English Language teaching Unit | Main Arts building (MA) |
Postgraduate degrees leading to Master of Arts (M.A.), Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and several Postgraduate Diplomas are also offered. Study programs are conducted in all English, Sinhala and Tamil media.[3]
Main library of University of Peradeniya serves primarily the Arts faculty. It is one of the largest libraries in Sri Lanka containing more than 800,000 items.
Dean is the head of the academic and non-academic staff. Heads of departments, the assistant registrar, bursar several other key officers work under the dean.
Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya is also known for its architecture. The Senate building, located within the faculty, is constructed on hundreds of stone pillars. Each of them contains traditional carvings of Sri Lanka. Other than that, the seven-floor library building and Sarachchandra open-air theatre are notable constructions within the faculty. Many traditional sculptures are seen all over the faculty premises.