Yogyakarta, September 29, 2026—A thesis proposal seminar for graduate students in the Cultural Anthropology program was held at the Soegondo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Six students presented their proposals, grouped under the theme “Capturing Lives,” with Dr. Muhammad Zamzam Fauzanafi, S.Ant., M.A., Ph.D., serving as the faculty coordinator for this seminar cluster.
The theses presented by the students covered a wide range of regions across the archipelago, starting with those located closest to Yogyakarta: “Walking Ethnography on the Temporality of Smell at Giwangan Central Market,” “The Transformation of the Makaryo Adi Ngayogyakarta Waste Pickers’ Community into the Makaryo Adi Katon Waste Processing Cooperative: A Case Study of the Community Support Group of the Muhammadiyah PP Community Empowerment Council in the Piyungan TPST Area,” and “Evaluation of Community Capacity in Tourism Village Management through an Empowerment Evaluation Approach: A Study in Padukuhan Nganggring, Sleman.” Moving on to the island of Kalimantan, there are studies titled “A Long and Windy Road: The Sensory Verite Approach in the Production of a Documentary Film on Former Political Prisoners on Buru Island” and “Encountering the Invisible: Spirits and Besiak Rituals through Sensory Verite Documentary,” followed by a study set on Lombok Island titled “The Institutionalization of Customary Law: The Role of the Majelis Emban Adat (MANDAT) in Ecological Compromise in Bayan Village, North Lombok.”
Since the thesis proposal seminar is the first step in the research process, the students still have a long journey ahead of them to complete their projects. Following the thesis proposal seminar, the students will conduct a more in-depth analysis of their research materials and receive guidance from their assigned advisors.
Author: Syafina Kamilya
