ARTS is NotShiT

This post goes out to all the people who think that ARTS degrees are of no value. For the Information of you guys, I will tell you of the subjects that I have to follow this semester, and had to follow last semester. I'm doing Sociology, Management and Western Classical Culture(WCC) as main subjects and apart from them we have follow two foundation courses per the requirements of the university(I'm referring to the faculty of Arts in Peradeniya University)

For Sociology, we had to study all sorts of theories and introductions to the subject and this term, we are dealing with Sri Lankan Society from Vijaya to the modern period.(well some thing similar to the O/L history part but more in detail)

For Management, we had to learn about the theories and the four major functions of Management, planning, organizing, leading and controlling and this time, we have to Accounting with a nice young lecturer

For WCC the syllabus for this term can be found here and for the last term, we had to do Odyssey and Argonautica. Yes, two big books

For the foundation Courses, we had to do Maths and Writing Skills and Computer last term. Now I must tell you something of these three subjects.

Maths was hard because apparently, it used to have elements from the the syllabus of the Engineering guys at UoM.

Writing skills was harder because, we had to write research papers and critical arguments just after setting the foot in to the university.

Computer was hard because it was soooo hard to find a free computer in our lab.(other than that, for me, it was OK. I do not know about others. Just the history and introduction to networking and hardware stuff. No programming at all. Instead we had some advanced work to be done with Office package)

And this term, the foundation courses include basics of the following subject areas.

Human Mind

World Religion

Law and Ethics

Art and Aesthetic Subjects

Environment

Society and Culture

International Relationships

History of Science

According to Prof Desmond Mallikarachchi who had designed the course, the above subject makes a qualified undergraduate. To be called an real graduate, you should at least know basics of the other subject ares as well

Now,One question for you Engineers, Scientists, Financial Experts and Doctors....

What do you know about Art and Aesthetic? International Relationships?Society and culture? Of course, if you are exceptional engineer or a doctor, you will say yes to at least for one question. But for many, it is a “big no”.

Any way, on the contrary, the Arts graduates have the opportunity to learn something out of their subject matter, which in my idea, is a great achievement.(here in pera, we are given the chance to attend lectures in any faculty but the students hardly do it. It is another problem)

But still, in the long run, they(not Arts graduates) get jobs and a good salary while the “real graduates” sleep in the pavements.

So, the public think that doing Arts is useless. Children choose Maths and Bio science for the Advanced level examination and when they get screwed up for several times, they learn the so called useless arts subjects to get into the university. For many think, arts is the easiest of all the streams in the Advanced level. But it is not and I have the right to say so because I have experienced how it is to do English, French and Greek and Roman Civilization to get into the University.

I have deliberately put in my A/L subjects because they too belong into the category of Arts. Well but many think those subjects belong to a new category called languages. No it is not, they are same as Sinhalese,Logic and Political Science. The only difference is the medium of instruction.

However, there is a general idea among the public that doing Languages worth it than doing Arts. There is little truth hidden in the statement because the competency in English language always matter a lot in getting a job in Sri Lanka.

But knowing English itself is not enough to get a good job. You should have the knowledge in the subject matter the way the world demands. For example, learning how to draw a graph using Microsoft Word 95 is considered nothing these days.

Unfortunately, the knowledge of the students who learn in Sinhalese has ultimately fallen into that category today. I m not asking all the students to offer courses in English medium After all it is our mother tongue. But they should have a working knowledge of English so that they can apply what they learned into big companies.

And that is exactly what most of the Sinhalese Medium students lack. There are many reasons for that but I would not like to deal about them further because Prof. Shantha K. Hennayake has already done that here. ( Refer to the section on ragging)For your information, I would quote his article here.

"Students should not speak in English as it’s the "para bhasawa". (meaning not only a foreign but also oppressive). Generally the union leaders are English illiterate English."

With such practices, I wonder whether the efforts of the ELTU are fruitful. But they are doing a good job in the university. Hats off to you nice ladies and gentlemen!!

Another thing is the lack of computer knowledge. Some times, even a simple thing like formatting a USB Drive. The most common reason given by such students is their inability and the fear. There can be other reason like the ones I explained in one of my earlier posts. Anyway, such things are unforgivable at the University level. You have a computer lab where you can do anything(I mean not changing the OS, but simple things that are vital in day today's life.) So you can practice and learn, After all if we do not make use of the facilities who would?

English medium students too have this problem but at least they have English; something very very important for a good carrier like computer knowledge.

So, due to the lack of those simple two facts we ARTS students are considered to be the lower class in the hierarchy of the Faculties in Sri Lanka.

But in the reality, we are taught about the humanity so that we should have the ability understand it ,to be flexible and adopt to any situation easily. We have the best knowledge base in Sri Lanakan students; I mean, with regard to the breadth of it.

Earlier, an Arts degree was something to do with Sinhalese, Political Science and Sanskrit. But these days, the trend is changing. You have the access to many fields such as management, computing ., law and many things. (Well, I'm not talking about the private universities)

And if you have the means, doing another degree or a diploma in a private institution to is possible. But if you make the best use of University of Peradeniya, you can have an Arts degree as well as a part of the Engineering Degree(cz you can go for the lectures in the Eng fac if you wish. I do not know about the other universities)

My dear sisters and brothers who are planning to enter into the university, why don't you give a heed to these thoughts and decide your University life today it self?

After all, ARTS is not shit if you manage it properly!!

(Will talk about my point of view about this in the future)

OH, university again, our second semester.

I had to get up at 6.30 and have a bath (it was cold, dread cold. But had to do it cz if not, I would smell like a rotten rat). Ok, guys, this is the typical me going to the university.

Gulp a plate of rice and curry down the throat and off I run to catch a bus. I was at Galaha Junction by 7.40, almost ten minutes late and to my dismay, the one who should be waiting for me was missing. Waited for another 5 minutes and texted her( you guys thought it was my BF right?? heh hee nope, it was my friend—a girl) that I would be going and meet you under the senate and stuff.

Ah, it was too late,walking to the faculty was impossible. So boarded a bus. Guys you know, that conductor took only 6 rupees from Galaha Junction to the Faculty of Arts. Good start, isn't it?

Then the “gal kanu yata sangame” aka our gossip corner. It was fun to check out how each and everybody was doing during the vacation. Well for the first time in my life, I got to know the important of the “pacha bankuawas” in the village boutique. It is a good place to pass your time when there is nothing to do and a good source of information about the things happening around. Not to mention, it is a bond developer too, well I mean not like Harcobond, it helps you to strengthen the friendship between the batch mates. In our case, we had no time table, any information on the additional courses that we have to follow this semester. so, gossiping was the only activity which kept us busy.

When, the mouths were tired of talking and the ears were tired of listening, some went to the gym and some just walked around to say hi to departments and the much loved stair cases in the library and the Sociology Department building. My bloody phone vibrates at this moment. A SMS, the one that my friend had sent in the morning to say not to wait for her in Galaha Junction. Mobitel, you really rock my world!! Rs6/= for an incoming text message and yet you have the guts to say you care always..bus conductors may be..

People who went to the gym were missing but all the dudes who went to say hi to the departments were returning in minutes as if they were bound by an elastic to the stone pillars. The Departments were all closed or either, not in function properly. We were lost, we had nothing to do, some had got hold of the course schedule for English and WCC but we didn't know whether we had the lectures that day or not.

We were hopeless, but as usual, we find hope in the hopelessness. The hope of having a fun!! no need to explain, you know the fun right? For the university students, imagine how you feel a two hour boring lecture is canceled without no cover up. For the school goers, imagine how you feel when this all hated and all insulted teacher doesn't come to the class due to a meeting with a principal.

All of a sudden, the corridor in front of the Deans' Office gets crowded as if SRK had visited the office. Then we know that the time table was out. We were used to that nice little time tables in the school but this one was horrible. Imagine all the courses offered to all the years in one big thing. If you really want to imagine how big it was multiply 9 by 5(number of hours in one day into number of days)and again multiply the result by number of lecture halls available in the faculty(more than twenty I suppose) so approximately, the time table has 900 cages!! you have to search for the relevant 15 cages to decipher out your proper time table from that “thing”. Oh, it was tiresome. Hope we had an on line system to check out the time tables( heard such a program is being developed. Hope it would come out before I pas out)

Another notice is then seen in the notice board of our Department of ********

“All the students who do **** come to meet Mrs********** with a copy of ******* by*****( Penguin edition, translated by*****)” but that was not what the schedule said. We were supposed to do something else in the first two weeks of the semester!! but what to do, they rule the world you know.

Off I ran to the library to get a book and as usual there was no book to be found. To be exact, no Penguin Edition. There was a Oxford University Press Edition available, but hell, it was not what the lecturer wanted. Hopeless again, went to the department to say that the book is not in the library. we met the lecturer only to hear her say that what ever, she is going to do the lecture( with or without books)..mm uni is cool right? This is just the beginning of the tragedy. Last time I screwed up the **** paper because I didn't read much. But this time, I took the course schedule in advance and read for the first play that we have to do. But alas, I was again yawning in the class for 2 hours with no clue on what is being said.

Hmm...This is what do you call the university life in Sri Lanka.

Only one girl in the class had a copy of the play (not the required version, she had burrowed the Oxford University Press Edition from the library) but that was only our problem, she finished a two third of it. That is why people say that university is all about self studying, do you get it guys and girls? That is it.

It was yesterday.

Today was no better. We were to have a lecture from 8-10. we were nicely seated in the lecture hall by 8 but not even a shadow of a lecturer was in the vicinity. So we had our own lectures on gossiping, emailing, texting and cheating in the exams etc etc.

the most interesting gossip I heard was that even the lecturer had been using the Oxford University Edition in yesterdays lecture. So why bother about penguins, hoping get a photocopy of the Oxford Edition, came out of the lecture hall and that was the second day of the second semester. Hope the third will be better!

Of blogging, debating, ragging and English

I seriously need to work with Sinhala Unicode. (try my web tutor) The reason is nothing but the mere feeling of outlandishness I experience when commenting on Sinhala Blogs in English. The valance of Sinhala Blogging in developing or diminishing the image if Sri Lanka in the web is a problem to be debated. However, it is nice to have at least a small portion of servers to store information that cannot be decoded other than by a Sri Lankan. if we have the resources, now we can even end up with something like Youkutube in Sinhala.

Now, some of the English Bloggers would say that Sinhala Blogging is just bullshit. Why waste server space for the use of a small number of people? The Chinese do it because China has the largest population in the world. The Indians do it because Tamil and Hindi and India are known through out the world.(This reminds me of a comment reply that i received in You Tube.)

And i have noticed a big difference between the English and Sinhala bloggers. Most of the English bloggers(I mean posting 100% in English) are equipped with good english and most of the popular bloggers are working in big companies. They are far superior to the sinhala bloggers who are mostly uni students, school goers and all the nitwits. (now, guys, i m new to this world and this is my first impression. if i am wrong, please forgive me.). Most of the Sinhala bloggers are fun type. but they are real Sri Lankans and you feel it when going through the blogs. For example, a Sinhala blogger would say"මම ඊයෙ හන්දියෙ කඩෙට ගියා පාන් බාගයක් ගන්න" and an English blogger would say the same thing like this" I went to the boutique yesterday to buy a loaf of bread"(pardon me,i don't know how to say පාන් බාගයක් in English). But හන්දියෙ කඩෙ is totally different from the "boutique in the junction". And consequently, the person who says හන්දියෙ කඩෙ is treated differently by the person who says "boutique".

It is a simple fact for the average Sri lankan. The fight and the discrimination is everywhere. School, University, Bus, market, Tuition Class and even the Bath Room..If you do not know the English Way of doing things, you are sure to end up using comed as the wash basin like BORAT (In fact, that had happened to me.. but yes, not literally)

In the school, i was in all this "English Socieities" . But my parents knew very little English. My mother once accompanied me to a debate to see how im doing my job although im sure she wouldnt have understood half of the things i said at the debate. But that is motherly love. Mothers love to see how well the children are doing. But that very "love" had made her left out in the audience. Apparently, the English had won the day. Love was a scrap. She was treated by the other parents as if she had drunken the waters of comed simply beacause she was not good at kadu fighting (English) and she did not fit in the "make up all over", "posh","wearing expensive clothing" society. When all the people are speaking in English, a non English speaker would keep the mouth shut. She did that too. The conclusion was that she was a misfit.

That was the first and the last time she accompanied me to a English drama, debate or to any place that i had to deal with English speaking crowd.

And hats off to you who guys did it. Now i know when to use English and when not to use it.

"Mother like daughetr" ---Darcy is correct (If im still ok with the loving memory of Pride and Prejudice). Im going through the same.

University Life is the latest. I did my A/L and got into the Uni to become a member of the Non-Ragging student community. As a Buddhist, im really happy that im not hurting others nor get hurt by others in the name of "orientation" or "Welcome" . I have the freedom from seniors to do what ever I want. I really appreciate that.

but,

when the freedom itself becomes a cage where my true self is tormented. It hurts.

I dont know how to speak, dress and eat like a daughter of the elite class but i was chosen to be among them. May be to watch and learn how to dance and speak English Fluently and practice the elite etiquette like they do. But Lord, God who ever you are , your decison dosent work for me. Still im a misfit, just like my mother.

I feel nervous when talking to the receptionist at ACHE (in English) because I Know Im sure to make a mess in front of every body. so I tend to speak with a low voice. Then they hear the simplest thing like "close the door" as "I wanna go to the toilet". I may be too timid and they might have also thought that I belong in the dust bin.

Yes, that is the place for all the (English speaking) girls with a parentage who does not know English,unshaven legs and hands, no expensive car and the no high society etiquette. People say that you have to learn English, but believe me, it is not enough, you have to be like one of them. Until then, you will be a misfit. Just like how English comments in a Sinhala blog would sound. Another important thing,"හෙට මට ශොපින් යන්න තියනවා මෙයා" is always laughed at(by the Godaya and accepted by the other group) and "හෙට මට කඩෙ යන්න තියනවා" is always accepted(by the Godaya and laughed at/ considered uncommon by the other group).

But

Im not broken.
Im happy and proud of me, myself and I
I will not change

And

I will grow with the people who accept me as this

woops WCC again?? i can't .....let me sleep

But you can't sleep. There are lots and lots of things that we have to study in the next semester. here we go----WCC102 course contents at University Of Peradeniya

1. Origins of Greek drama

2. Greek Theater and Stage Antiquities

3. Dramatists and their Works

4. Sophocles- Philoctetes

5. Greek Comedy-Old,Middle and New

6. Menander- Bad Tempered Man

7. Origin of Roman Drama

8. Plautus- the Ghost

9. Terrence- The Mother-In-Law

For the students who have just done O/L and for big people who have just completed the A/L

mm well this post is meant to the guys and girls who have done or hope to do A/L Arts in Kadda(or as many people know, languages)

people who hope to do languages pls read the admission hand book issued by the University Grants commision before selecting the subjects

and for pple who have got good results, think before you apply for the university. for the languages pple, mainly there are 4 unis. Pera, kalaniya, Colombo and Sabaragamuwa. let me tell you about each of these as far as i know.

Peradeniya Vs Kalaniya- you have got loads of subjects if you wanna do something out side languages in Pera. for example, suppose you did GRC, French and English for A/L, then you can even do subjects like, management, sociology etc with a language of ur choice. but the problem in pera is that it is not the place for those who like to have modern languages in their transription. We only have Greek, Latin, French, English, Sanskrit and pali. and the best part is French special degree is not available in pera. for more details check out the Faculty of Arts website.

kalaniya is hell in that aspect. if you choose to be in the faculty of humanities you are not allowed to do courses offerd by the faculty of Social Sciences. simply, if you want to do english or any other languages as a main subject, you cant do sociology, managment or any other social science.

speaking of the environment, it is perfect, you can have a look around the uni here but some of my friends say that Pera has nothing except the environs. well i don't agree with you all girls! Pera seems more fun than the kalaniya people who are still struggling with exams. kalaniya seems to have a long semester although the rule says that a semester is 6 months. we started the uni somewhere around august and by December we finish the end semesters. we feel that it is too quick and too much burden in studies. but in the point of view of Vidyalankara students, we are lucky cz we don't have to submit assignments just before the exams...well i would say this is just the beginning guys!

ragging is the next business which makes Pera soo different from Kalaniya. In Pera, there are alayas as well as bathalayas. Im a alaya so i don't know what happens inside the bathalaya group. how ever i know it is extremely difficult to bear the burden of being a bathalaya as a student who did the A/L in English medium. you wont understand half of the words they(bathalayas) use!! and well you will have no freedom if you choose to become a ragger. In pera choice is urs. when you enter into the faculty as a student for the first time, bathalays will come looking for you and if you like to be one of their kind, go with them. no worries, the choice is urs. people say many things about this alayas and bathalayas. but my ideas is both the groups miss a part of uni life..so if possible, try to be in both sides..well funny ha, if in kalani language it is being a "Ponnaya"

ragging in kalaniya may be bad, but they have loads of outdoor activities than in Pera. and the societies there are more active than the once at pera i suppose. anothe thing, AISEC is only avaialable in Kalaniya( well an organization i was dreaming to join)

sabaragamuwa is out of the way, you get ur degree not as BA but as Langs!! something unique, but the hard part is that you have to sacrifice the whole life to be in Sabaraganuwa. you know what now it has been months since sabaragamuwa started but im still could not contact even one of my fnds there cz they are not allowed to use mobile phones. it seems that their mobiles are in the custody of the "Seniors". that is all i can tell about sabaragamauwa cz all the comunication links to sabaragamuwa pple are cut. howevr, if you want to do another degree or diploma in the private sector while studing in a state University, sabaragamuwa is not the best place. let alone classes i heard they even dont have water during some pereoids

colombo is a time waste. but i think thier courses are well planned as the students say. however, still have no good idea as our batch is still in the transition period.

commets are welcome!