During the 3rd graduation period held on April 24, 2024, four students from the Master’s Program in American Studies graduated. All four are 2021 cohorts of the Master’s Program in American Studies, namely: Diah Prima, Ratu Nadhirah El Sarah, Krisna Sujiwa, and Riza Rahayu Muludi. The discussions in the theses of these four graduates reflect a diversity of topics ranging from political issues, popular culture, social problems, racism, etc. Broadly speaking, the students’ thesis interests in the study program are grouped into two; namely social issues and literature.

Diah Prima’s thesis is titled: American Influence in Japanese Imagination: A Study of Semiotics on Furudate’s Haikyuu!!. This study discusses the influence of America in Japan and the extent of American influence on Haruichi Furudate’s manga Haikyuu!!. Haikyuu!! itself revolves around the theme of volleyball, a sport introduced by America. In addition, there are other aspects that are also American influences in this manga, such as fashion, hairstyle, technology, and cheerleading. Nevertheless, there are still some limitations to American influence in Haikyuu!!, such as politeness, which is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture and remains unaffected by American culture.

Next is Riza Rahayu Muludi’s thesis titled Constructing the Pursuit of Happiness in the Pursuit of Happiness (2006): Roland Barthes’ Semiotic Analysis. This study aims to see how the pursuit of happiness constructs the lives of Americans in the film The Pursuit of Happiness. The pursuit of happiness is part of the American Dream, which means that every American has the right to their happiness. As seen in the film, the character Chris Gardner has his own happiness in achieving success. Furthermore, other characters besides Gardner also have their own happiness.

Ratu Nadhirah’s thesis, which graduated with Cumlaude honors, is titled Representing Islam in American Superhero Series of 2022. This thesis discusses how Islam is represented in superhero series. Conflicts related to Islam in the Western world, especially in the United States, have been ongoing long before the events of September 11, 2001 (9/11). However, the negative representation of Islam worsened after 9/11. This event promoted stereotypes that spread widely through the mass media, forming a set of characteristics used to identify Muslims, such as thick beards, heavy accents, Arab appearance, the use of hijabs, and more. Nonetheless, in 2022 Marvel Studios released its 7th television series titled Ms. Marvel, featuring the first Muslim superhero as the main character in the history of American superhero series.

Lastly, Krisna Sujiwa’s thesis, titled Freedom of Speech in Transnational Dialogue: a Critical Discourse Analysis of Daryl Morey’s Tweet about the Hong Kong Protest, discusses how a tweet from Daryl Morey, an executive of an NBA basketball club, caused issues between the NBA, America, and China, which eventually led to significant problems for the NBA.

These studies are expected to provide an overview of how research is conducted in the Master’s Program in American Studies, as well as what topics or issues can be researched in the field of American Studies. Furthermore, these studies are also expected to serve as references for future research.

The results for the official IETLS test held by UGM Language Center on  Saturday, June 8, 2024 are out, and the UGM Language Center proudly congratulates all students for finishing the test with flying colors. 

We interviewed one student of UGM Language Center, Prientananda Ghina Salsabila, who achieved a significant milestone by scoring an overall band score of 7.5 on the IELTS exam. Her journey is not only a testament to her dedication and hardwork but also highlights the broader implications of education in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article will summarize Prientananda’s preparation, journey, her challenges, and how her success aligns with the global objectives of sustainable development. 

During the interview, Prientananda expressed how blessed and grateful she felf after receiving her score that is in line with her target. However, she still has a strong desire to aim higher and improve her score, especially in writing. Prior to the test, Prientananda utilized English on a daily basis to familiarize herself and applied different approaches for practicing each IELTS skill. For reading, she read numerous academic texts, such as journals or news articles in international newspapers. During the test, she applied skimming before reading the full text. For listening, she watched multiple English movies without subtitles and listened to English songs while taking note of unfamiliar vocabularies. For speaking, she practiced with her peers and do a lot fo mock test to recall idioms, collocations, and advanced vocabularies. Lastly, she utilized linking devices and complex sentences during the exam in her writing to achieve maximal score. “To be able to write we have to read, to be able to speak we have to listen,” she shared. She also advised to learn and study long before the d-day to avoid anxiety and perform optimally during the test. 

Like many non-native students, Prientananda found the writing section particularly challenging. She shared her difficulties as non-native speaker to get a high score despite already fulfilling the specific requirements, which she attributed to the difference of sentence arrangement between native and non-native as well as many unfamiliar academic vocabularies. However, she also mentioned how studying at UGM Language Center improved her initial score. “Fortunately, after the course, since a lot of mock tests have been given, I now know all the sections well, and so I don’t experience the same difficulty as I did anymore,” she shared.

Lastly, Prientananda also shared her gratitude for UGM Language Center that assisted her in improving her score. She expressed how IELTS is different from other tests and how one needs to understand many technical rules and tips/tricks beforehand to achieve desirable score, which are taught in the course. She also mentioned how the schedule is sometimes to tight to her liking, but nonetheless, learning at UGM Language Center has facilitated and prepared her for the test. Furthermore, she stated how UGM Language Center is flexible and willing to accept student’s suggestion and objection, which enhance the effectiveness of the course. 

Prientananda’s journey exemplifies the impact of quality education on personal growth and success, aligning with SDG 4: Quality Education, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Arabic Literature students from Padjadjaran University and North Sumatra University delivered farewell to the Head of the Arabic Literature Study Program at UGM, Dr. Zulfa Purnamawati, S.S., M.Hum., after completing a one-semester of Pertukaran Mahasiswa Merdeka (PMM) at UGM Arabic Literature. This moment took place in Yogyakarta on June 25th, 2024.

During this exchange program, the students had the opportunity to attend various courses offered by the Arabic Literature Study Program at UGM. Additionally, they were involved in cultural and academic activities that enriched their understanding of the Arabic language and culture. Dr. Zulfa Purnamawati expressed her pride in the dedication and enthusiasm for learning shown by the three students.

This student exchange program not only provided students with the opportunity to broaden their academic horizons but also to build networks and collaborations between universities in Indonesia. It is hoped that this experience will greatly benefit the students in their academic and career development in the future.

Five UGM students have pioneered the development of a platform based on Historical Tourism App that offers historical tour packages with 4 destinations namely Yogyakarta, Magelang, Ambarawa, and Semarang consisting of 9 tour packages and 66 sites, called HISTARA which stands for Histori Nusantara. They are Aditya Firdaus (Tourism, Faculty of Arts) with members Franzseka Aurellia Oenang (Tourism, Faculty of Arts), Elyzabeth C. F. Roring (Tourism, Faculty of Arts), Irkam Asroni (Archaeology, Faculty of Arts), and Fanny Elizabeth Panjaitan (Information Engineering, Engineering). Aditya explained that the development of Hisatara started from the lack of interest of generation z in historical tourism, as seen from the news that often discusses the lack of interest in visiting historical tourist attractions. Therefore, they are trying to provide services like this in order to attract generation z.

Fanny added that HISTARA is designed to be attractive and modern, designed to fit the pockets of students, “Services and services can be fully accessed through the website www.histaratour.com and will also be available on google play store”, she said. Franzeska also added, “The HISTARA application also supports the realization of the values of sustainable development goals, namely SDGs No. 4 Quality Education, SDGs No. 9 Infrastructure, Industry and Innovation, and SDGs No. 17 Partnerships to Achieve Goals. HISTARA offers tour packages at student-friendly prices with a wide selection of exciting historical tour packages.

Author: Elyzabeth

The theme for the 2024 Academic Student Networking (ASN) is DYNAMIC SPACE: EVOLUTION OF LITERATURE AND POPULAR CULTURE

Subtheme:

SASTRA

– Literature and AI

– Digital/Cyber Literature

– Popular Literature

CULTURE

– Multimedia Mass Culture

– Media and Subculture

– Cyber Culture

HISTORY

– Reconstructing History through Literature

– Public History

– Literary and Cultural History

️Berikut ASN 2024 Call for Paper timeline

Article acceptance (May 28 – July 16, 2024);

Proofreading (July 17 – August 15, 2024); and

Announcement of selected articles (August 16, 2024)

Selected articles will be presented at the Academic Student Networking (ASN) event on September 9, 2024.

We look forward to your participation

Registration link: https://linktr.ee/academicstudentnetworking

Contact person:

08112955001 (Alfi)

087864511167 (Pany)

Master of Literature

Faculty of Cultural Sciences

Gadjah Mada University