The 7th International Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka will be held as a hybrid event on March 18th and 19^th, 2021. As one of the most prestigious conferences held in Sri Lanka in the fields of humanities and social sciences, IRCHSS is committed to providing a platform for renowned intellectual key profiles and emerging scholars working in these fields to disseminate their knowledge, inspire new ideas, and build networks with fellow researchers around the world. This year’s conference will take place in a real-time [Online] knowledge exchange platform under the theme, “Collaborate and Discover: Break the Barriers.” This unique theme signifies the necessity of overcoming diverse challenges and barriers confronted by researchers in humanities and social sciences.

Despite the current COVID 19 pandemic, this year’s IRCHSS received more than 205 abstract submissions from scholars around the world, out of which 100 studies were selected for oral and poster presentations. These new research studies will be presented throughout two conference dates under 08 conference tracks, including Buddhist Studies, Religion, and Philosophy; Communication, Media and Society; Environment, Governance and Development; History, Culture and Heritage; Language and Literature; and Technology, Innovation, and Education.

Besides, IRCHSS – 2021 is featured by three plenary speeches, organized with the goal of generating an interactive discourse on some key topics in contemporary humanities and social sciences. The first plenary will be delivered by Professor Praneeth Abhayasundere of the Department of Anthropology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura on “Anthropomorphism and Zoomorphism: Resolving the Praxis.” Meanwhile, the second plenary will be delivered by Dr. Oshan Wedage, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Archelogy of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura along with Dr. Siran Deraniyagala, Professor M.M. Pathmalal and a team of researchers from Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany on “Fruits Of The Forest: Sri Lanka and Its Global Prehistory.” Finally, the third plenary is to be delivered by Professor Daniel Seely of the Eastern Michigan University, USA, on “Toward Explaining Language: The Minimalist Perspective.”

The inauguration ceremony of the conference will be held on March 18^th, 2021 from 8.30 am onwards at the New Senate Board Room of USJ. The chief guess of the event is Ms. Alaina B. Teplitz, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Meanwhile, Senior Professor Sampath Amaratunge, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission will grace the event as the guest of honour. Also, Snr. Prof. Sudhantha Liyanage, Vice-Chancellor of the University and Prof. Shirantha Heenkenda; Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences will attend the event. The inauguration session and all plenary speeches will be webcast on http://irchss.sjp.ac.lk.

For more information on the conference and sessions, please visit the IRCHSS conference site: http://irchss.sjp.ac.lk.