Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo (UoC) and former AUA Board Member, completed a stint as a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University (THU) under the AUA Scholars Award Program (AUASAP) from 14-25 October 2019, hosted by Dr. WANG Youqiang, Dean of Tsinghua University Library and Professor in the School of Public Policy and Management. Prof. Dissanayake engaged in various fruitful activities during his visit to THU, resulting in positive and lasting outcomes to benefit the two universities as well as the wider AUA community.
Through a series of meetings, the two sides discussed a plan for a collaborative research project focusing on the culture of migration, a specific field relevant to both Sri Lanka and China. The research will concentrate on key areas of migration such as sustainability, housing, rural urban migration and population studies. In an interview about his experience on the AUASAP, Prof. Dissanayake said, "In the Sri Lankan context we can learn a lot from the Chinese experience. Because there are lots of international migration streams and the issues and the problems they encounter and how they resolve certain things, that knowledge can be transferred to the Sri Lankan situation." Prof. Dissanayake also met with professors from THU's School of Public Policy and Management to establish ties and make greater connections to aid future research endeavors.
Prof. Dissanayake (center) with host Prof. Wang (far left) during a meeting with professors at THU's School of Public Policy and Management
Prof. Jing Jun, Director of the Public Health Research Center at THU's School of Medicine, invited Prof. Dissanayake to deliver a lecture to Chinese and international students from the International Master of Public Health program on the topic of “Population Aging and its Challenges to Health Services in Developing Countries—A Focus on Sri Lanka”, which draws upon Prof. Dissanayake's own research in his native Sri Lanka. Taking advantage of the close proximity to another AUA member - Peking University (PKU) - Prof. Dissanayake visited neighboring PKU and met with senior management of the School of Foreign Languages and delivered a similar lecture to faculty and students. Speaking about the benefits of delivering these lectures, Prof. Dissanayake said “This gave me a huge opportunity to share my experiences with the faculty and also with the students. Because the international students who are here come from various backgrounds, these interactions are very much important for us to take our discipline further.”
Prof. Dissanayake with Prof. Jing after delivering a lecture at Tsinghua
During his stay, Prof. Dissanayake also met with Director of the AHEO Project, Dr. ZHONG Zhou to discuss future collaborations and directions for upcoming editions of the series. He also paid a visit to THU’s Office of Lifelong Education Administration to discuss potential collaborations in online education between the two sides.
On the morning of 21 October, Prof. Dissanayake met with AUA and Tsinghua University President Prof. QIU Yong. President Qiu warmly thanked Prof. Dissanayake for his contribution to the founding and ongoing support of AUA. Prof. Dissanayake expressed his delight at welcoming all AUA members to visit UoC for the AUA Executives’ Meeting in November and President Qiu wished the event a great success.
Prof. Dissanayake meeting with President Qiu
Overall the visit was a great success, demonstrating the impact of the AUA Scholars Award Program in furthering the mission and vision of the AUA and strengthening the partnership between UoC and THU. Commenting on why the AUA Scholars Award Program is a very important initiative, Prof. Dissanayake said “The AUA Scholars Award gives a lot to the academics…because people are looking for opportunities to collaborate with somebody who is doing something very similar. And we will have two different ideas with people coming from different schools of thought. So if you put them together through the AUA Scholars Award you will come up with very dynamic innovative research findings. That is something we really want in the 21st Century.”
Prof. Dissanayake being interviewed about his experience on the AUA Scholars Award Program
