Author: Universtiy of Colombo

Course Description: This course is designed to provide a comprehensive knowledge about both critical thinking and research skills in historical inquiry. It will focus on conceptual developments in the philosophy of knowledge and how this impacted changes in the nature of historical inquiry. It will also deal with research techniques, methods and methodology. Learning Objectives: […]

Course Description: This course will provide an understanding of how and in what capacity artworks, including paintings, sculpture, craft, can be used as an alternative source to explore the past and historical practice. This course does not rely only on a chronological spread but covers art from many countries as well as the theory of […]

Course Description: This course will explore how the use of the Indian Ocean from the early civilizations to the arrival of the Europeans impacted the shaping of the history of the Indian Ocean world. It will look at phenomenal aspects of trade, migration and the militarisation of the Indian Ocean and the consequences of these […]

Course Description: This course is designed to examine the economic, political, and social changes that took place in Europe after the Renaissance. The course will introduce the changes that set off the historical process known as the ‘Modern Europe’. It will start with the break-up of the ‘Old Europe’ and especially the decline of feudalism. […]

Course Description: This course provides an in-depth understanding of the early colonial encounter between Portuguese and Dutch European powers and Sri Lankan society. The course will discuss diverse aspects of this encounter, such as economic, political, social and cultural aspects. It will especially try to identify the impact of the early colonial encounters on Sri […]

Course Description: This course examines the origin and evolution of some of the main religions up to the 16th century, linking them to the growth of cities, to conquests and territorial expansion, to revolutions and wars. Some of the topics covered are: the coming of Hinduism, the Judaic roots of Christianity and Islam, the teachings […]

Course Description: The purpose of this course is to introduce students to some important new directions in history writing of the recent decades that have forced a re-evaluation of the relationship of historians to their subject. The course will trace fundamental changes that came with structuralism and the Marxist school in Britain before exploring the […]

This course examines the major historical processors that shaped Sri Lanka before the thirteenth century during the Rajarata civilization. It will mainly focus on the various patterns of early settlement formation, the emergence of early political institutions and the evolution of urbanised society.

This course will provide the first year student with a basic knowledge on important themes and aspects of Sri Lankan and world history, which will be helpful for studying history further. It will especially help them in understanding major developments, trends and events in the history of Sri Lanka in relation to the larger contexts of the developments, trends and events in the history of the world. It will discuss major developments in ancient, colonial and modern Sri Lankan history and give a brief outline of classical civilizations in the historical evolution of the modern world.

This course is designed to give first year students a basic understanding of the nature of history as a branch of knowledge. It will examine the philosophical and epistemological issues that influenced the growth and expansion of the discipline of History. It will deal with such basic questions as ‘What is history?’ and also discuss various approaches to history. Especially, it exposes the students to the most updated knowledge on the subject of history so that they will be quite prepared to follow courses both on specific cases of histories in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world and more advanced courses on conceptual issues involving historical investigation.