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Department of Mass Communication Hosts Special Guest Lecture on Broadcasting media and AI

The Department of Mass Communication at the University of Kelaniya successfully conducted a special guest lecture on June 29, 2025, at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The session, held from 9:00 AM to 12:00 noon, featured renowned expert Dr. Amal Punchihewa and was organized primarily for postgraduate students.

Dr. Punchihewa delivered a compelling lecture on the topic “Broadcasting media and AI”, offering deep insights into the evolving intersection of media technologies and artificial intelligence. His expertise and engaging presentation style sparked active interest and discussion among the attending students and academic staff.

Dr. Amal Punchihewa is a highly respected researcher, educator, advisor, and consultant in the fields of ICT, media, and broadcasting. With nearly four decades of experience in industry, academia, and research, his contributions are recognized both locally and internationally. He holds a degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from the University of Moratuwa, a Master’s in Electronics Engineering from the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and a PhD from Massey University, New Zealand.

Over the years, Dr. Punchihewa has earned numerous professional accolades. He has been a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL). He is also a member of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka, a Life Member of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, a Chartered Professional Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (UK), a Fellow of Engineering New Zealand, and a Senior Member of IEEE (USA).

In addition, he serves as a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and an Executive Member of the Media Technical Network of IET.

This lecture was a valuable opportunity for students to gain firsthand knowledge from an industry expert, reinforcing the Department’s commitment to bridging academic learning with real-world developments in the media and communication field.

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කැලණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ, ජනසන්නිවේදන අධ්‍යයන අංශය මගින් ක්‍රියත්මක සන්නිවේදන හා මහජන සම්බන්ධතා උසස් ඩිප්ලෝමා පාඨමාලාව 2025 (හය වන කණ්ඩායම) සමාරම්භක උලෙළ ජූනි මස 15 ඉරු දින කැලණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ සමාජීය විද්‍යා පීඨ ශ්‍රවණාගාරයේදී පැවැත්විණි.

"මහජන සම්බන්ධතාව, සන්නිවේදනය හා සම්ප්‍රදාය" මැයෙන් සමාරම්භක උලෙළේ මුඛ්‍ය දේශන, සම්මානිත මහාචාර්ය චන්ද්‍රසිරි රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් සිදු කෙරිණි.

මෙම සමාරම්භක උලෙළට ප්‍රධාන ආරාධිතයා වශයෙන් සමාජීය විද්‍යා පීඨයේ පීඨාධිපති මහාචාර්ය එම්.එම්. ගුණතිලක මහතා සහභාගී විය. 

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ජනසන්නිවේදන අධ්‍යයන අංශයේ අංශාධිපති ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කථිකාචාර්ය ආචාර්ය මනෝජ් ජිනදාස මහතා, ආචාර්ය මාපා තිලකරත්න මහතා, සන්නිවේදනය හා මහජන සම්බන්ධතා උසස් ඩිප්ලෝමා පාඨමාලාවේ සම්බන්ධීකාරක ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කථිකාචාර්ය අමාලි උත්පලා නන්දසිරි මෙනවිය, ජනසන්නිවේදන අධ්‍යයන අංශයේ ආචාර්ය මණ්ඩලයේ ආචාර්යවරු හා උසස් ඩිප්ලෝමා අපේක්ෂකයින්  සහභාගී වූහ.

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Dr. Manoj Jinadasa has officially assumed duties as the new Head of the Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, effective May 20, 2025. The formal appointment was conferred by Senior Professor Nilanthi De Silva, Vice-Chancellor of the University, during a ceremony held at the Vice-Chancellor's office.

To commemorate this significant occasion, a traditional pirith chanting ceremony was held at the Department premises, with the participation of a number of Buddhist monks, including the Most Venerable Maha Thero Koswaththe Ariyawimala, as well as other high-ranking monks who serve in the University as professors and occupy leading academic and administrative positions. Academic and non-academic staff members were also present, including Professor M. M. Gunatilake, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences; Professor Sunanda Madduma Bandara, Former Vice-Chancellor; and other deans and heads from the Faculties of Medicine, Science, Commerce and Management, and Graduate Studies, along with former Heads of the Department and current departmental staff.

Dr. Jinadasa brings extensive expertise as a Senior Lecturer specializing in strategic communication, digital media, and public relations. His professional portfolio includes consultancy roles with prestigious international development organizations, such as ITDG-UK and the World Bank’s Gemi Diriya project. His scholarly research spans diverse fields, including critical digital network media theory, masculinity and media, creative community development, gender studies, LGBTIQ+ issues, sexual health, higher education policy, and media psychology.

Throughout his distinguished academic career, Dr. Jinadasa has made substantial contributions to curriculum development in Sri Lanka’s higher education sector, pioneering the introduction of critical subject areas such as Public Relations, International Public Relations, Soft Power and Communication, and Media Psychology. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Digital Media and Critical Cultural Studies from Newcastle University, United Kingdom, along with multiple postgraduate qualifications in Indian Classical Music, Psychology, Translation Studies, and Research Methodologies.

A recipient of both Commonwealth and Presidential Postgraduate Scholarships, Dr. Jinadasa has authored 13 scholarly books and published nearly 25 academic articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as 65 national and international conference papers. He has delivered presentations at prestigious international academic institutions, including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India, Harvard University, the University of Oxford, the University of California, San Diego (USA), Newcastle University, and the University of Leicester (UK).

Dr. Jinadasa has actively engaged in academic discussions and dialogues with Professor Wimal Dissanayake (University of Hawaiʻi, USA), Professor Shelton Gunaratne (University of Minnesota, USA), and Professor Naren Chitty (Macquarie University, Australia; and Westminster University, UK) on a wide spectrum of media and communication disciplines, ranging from aesthetics, language, media philosophy to soft power and communication rationality.

Dr. Jinadasa maintains active affiliations with several prominent international academic bodies, including the International Communication Association (ICA), the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), and the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC). Currently, he serves as a co-investigator on an international research initiative examining education and masculinity in Sri Lanka, based at Newcastle University, under the supervision of Reader Dr. Chris Haywood—an eminent scholar in Critical Masculinity Studies and globally recognized as a former Chair of the American Men’s Studies Association.

 

© {2018 - 2025} 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱. 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘺 𝘔𝘈𝘊𝘖 𝘞𝘦𝘣 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮

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