Corridors of Heritage - For Peace and Conflict Resolution

The crippling impact of war and conflict, unleashed on a global scale, has come to stay as a permanent feature and self-perpetuating dynamic: and we have failed to learn from history. Urgent and pro-active engagements and interventions nurturing peace and understanding in the public domain are imperative for rediscovering an inclusive society.

For nearly three decades, bloody carnage engulfed Sri Lanka, as a conflict zone. Misunderstood histories and irrational biases and prejudices inflicted untold misery on its society, irrespective of ethnic, linguistic or religious identities. Some twenty five years ago Seneviratne, a committed public intellectual, began undertaking heritage initiatives, with UNESCO support, focused on peace and reconciliation in anticipation of the post-war situation. This talk unfolds his experience working with city and village folk, school children, undergraduates and public – private sector partnerships in heritage initiatives for peace and humanism.

Sudharshan Seneviratne is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and the 2012-2013 Edwin F. Arnold Visiting Professor of South Asian Archaeology at Whitman College.

Sponsored by the Edwin F. Arnold Endowment.