Foundations in Professional Writing Genres
- A guest lecture themed “Beyond the balance sheet” conducted by Ms. DiniKurukulasuriya who is a freelance copywriter, editor and designer, was organized by the Department of English on 7th October, 2015, at the Faculty of Humanities.
- The session was conducted as a discussion where the participants, both students and lecturers from the DoE were given the chance to interrupt and ask questions from Ms. Kurukulasuriya as the lecture continues. Shefocused on designing and writing annual reports for the corporate sector, in which the importance in maintaining the innovation and creativity was emphasised. The lecturer also presented and discussed several award winning annual reports that she took part in designing.
- The lecture was thought-provoking because it encouraged the participants to think about writing beyond the constraints of academic writing that they are more familiar with. The lecturer brought the attention of the participants to the types of writing that happen in the corporate sector. The examples Ms. Kurukulasuriyabrought and her ability to make references to the first-hand experiences in the field added life to the guest lecture.
Department of English organizes a guest lecture on documentary film making
Department of English organizes a guest lecture on documentary film makingA guest lecture on documentary film making was organized by the Department of English, University of Kelaniya. It was conducted by Ms. Sharni Jayawardena, a well-known Sri Lankan writer, editor and a documentary filmmaker, on the 28th of October 2015 at the YATV premises, for the special degree students following the course on Foundations in Professional Writing Genres.The session was conducted in the form of a discussion where important areas in the art of documentary film making were discussed by the facilitator in great detail. Significant aspects such as objectivity in writing, content selection, the language of documentaries, audience retaining, and avoiding controversy in the process of film making were highlighted. Ms Jayawardena also showed the participants extracts of documentaries to clarify these points.
The participants were given the opportunity to clarify their doubts by asking questions from the resource person. Being a pioneer and promoter of experimental documentary making, Sharni Jayawardena challenges the mainstream documentary practices in Sri Lanka, exploring how different media and art forms could creatively document people, processes and places. Thus the participants were provided a rare opportunity to experience and learn the newest trends in documentary film making, which widened their knowledge on the field. The participants appreciated the session for its revolutionary content and the novelty of the experience.
A session on writing feature articles with journalist Smriti Daniel
As part of their Foundations in Professional Writing Genres course, award-winning freelance journalist Smriti Daniel conducted a two-hour session on journalistic writing with the special degree students from the Department of English, University of Kelaniya. The curriculum of English Department of the University of Kelaniya adopts a practical approach to learning about the genres of writing in the workplace, and thus, their engagement with Daniel was one of the many collaborations with other professionals in diverse fields working in English.
The students were invited to the Sri Lanka Press Institute where Smriti Daniel focused primarily on feature article writing. She shared her expertise on how to conduct and record interviews, articulate ideas and present an objective yet interesting feature article. During the session, she used several examples from her own writing as well as other published feature articles. Following her presentation, the students were invited to ask questions and discuss difficulties they came across when writing a feature article. As a follow-up to the session, Smriti also offered to provide feedback on the drafts written by students.
The session was both interesting and insightful and the students maintained an easy rapport with Daniels, who readily answered their queries.
Smriti Daniel is currently a trainer at the Institute of Policy Studies and works as a feature writer for The Sunday Times. She is also the User Engagement Coordinator for SciDev.Net's South Asian edition and manages their social media activities in the region. Her articles have also appeared in Al Jazeera and The Hindu. In 2015, she was chosen to be the South Asian Regional Correspondent for the Commonwealth Writers Foundation.