DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology, as a distinct field of study under social sciences, has been developing a unique identity within the global education system. Therefore, the demand for higher education is continuously increasing. As a result, the Department of Anthropology has earned a very high recognition for its study programmes. We teach and conduct research in physical and cultural anthropology. Although few universities teach cultural anthropology the university of Sri Jayewardenepura in the one and only Sri Lankan university that offers a special degree in programme consist of cultural as well as physical anthropology.
News and Updates
Guest Lecture on Sexual Health
A guest lecture on Sexual Health was conducted in parallel with the Anthropology of the Human Body course unit for third-year undergraduate students of the Department of Anthropology on 03rd
පර්යේෂණ කුසලතා සංවර්ධන වැඩමුළු මාලාව – 02: How to Write an Effective Literature Review
'From Sources to Synthesis: How to Write an Effective Literature Review' (මූලාශ්රයන්ගේ සිට සංස්ලේෂණය දක්වා: ඵලදායී සාහිත්ය විමර්ශනයක් ලියන්නේ කෙසේ ද?) යන තේමාව යටතේ සංවිධානය කරනු ලැබූ පර්යේෂණ කුසලතා සංවර්ධන
Research Skill Development Workshop Series – 01: Crafting the Undergraduate Dissertation Proposal
පර්යේෂණ කුසලතා සංවර්ධන වැඩමුළු මාලාව – 01උපාධි අපේක්ෂක නිබන්ධ යෝජනාවලිය සකස් කිරීම (Crafting the Undergraduate Dissertation Proposal) යන තේමාව යටතේ, මානවශාස්ත්ර හා සමාජීයවිද්යා පීඨයේ උපාධි අපේක්ෂකයින්ගේ පර්යේෂණ කුසලතා වර්ධනය කිරීමේ
Anthropology Day 2026
ශ්රී ජයවර්ධනපුර විශ්වවිද්යාලයේ මානව විද්යා අධ්යයනාංශය විසින් සංවිධානය කරන ලද 2026 මානව විද්යා දිනය ජූලි මස 21 වැනි දින පෙරවරු 9:00 සිට විශ්වවිද්යාලයේ ශ්රී සුමංගල සභා සදයේ දී උත්සවාකාරයෙන් පැවැත්වුණි.
Svaranjali 2026 – Musical Evening
The Department of Anthropology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura hosted Svaranjali 2026, a musical evening celebrating the artistic talents of undergraduate students of the department, on 12 March 2026
Message of the Head
Anthropology was introduced to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura as a discipline in 1960 under the auspicious guidance of the eminent scholar Dr. P. E. P. Deraniyagala. Later hard work, dedication and experience of renowned scholars such as Dr. Allex Gunasekara, late Profs. Lakshman Waidyasekara and Prof. Nandasena Rathnapala laid a sound foundation to the development of the discipline. For over 60 years, well qualified department members have been tirelessly training and educating undergraduates to safeguard the different traditional cultural knowledge prevailing in the country and to use that knowledge to develop the country in a sustainable manner. At present this is the only department in the university system that offer both cultural as well as physical anthropology for the anthropology degree programme.
Head of the Department – Prof. K. M. Sepala Samarasekera
Upcoming Events
Academic Programs
To contribute to create a graduate who is fully committed to the development of the country as a coherent, critical and a research oriented citizen who understands human cultural and physical diversity. Anthropology course units are offered to Bachelor of Arts Degree Program…
CERTIFICATE IN TOURISM
Culture is the identity of a country. Although tourism has been taking place for various purposes, most people visit countries to see the diversity of cultures in the world. At present, Sri Lankan culture has been one of the fundamental elements that governs the promotion of tourism in the country. According to the ‘Survey of Departing Tourists from Sri Lanka…
Certificate Course in Angampora
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Lakdiva Hela Martial Arts, now known as Angampora Martial Arts, is one of the oldest martial arts in the history of world martial arts. Angam martial arts have a long history compared to martial arts such as Kung Fu, Wushu, Wing Chun, and Tai Chi in China, Karate in Japan…
Advanced Certificate in Aged Care
To contribute to create a graduate who is fully committed to the development of the country as a coherent, critical and a research oriented citizen who understands human cultural and physical diversity. Anthropology course units are offered to Bachelor of Arts Degree Program…
