The current threat of a food crisis is being responded to by various parties. The development of alternative food such as the processing of konjac is being attempted by the Community Service Team of the Department of Anthropology. The team consists of Dr. Atik Triratnawati, M.A., Prof. Dr. Bambang Hudayana, M.A., Muhammad Zamzam Fauzanafi, M.A., along with two students named Eka Yuniati and Ferdy Azmal Fakhrani. This community service program is a continuation of the previous year’s program with the same theme, “Development of Konjac-based Culinary in Karangpatihan Village, Ponorogo Regency, East Java.” The continuation of the program took place in August 2023 in four hamlets: Krajan, Selodono, Dungus, and Jurugan.

Konjac, or in Indonesia is called porang, was chosen as an alternative food because it is a local Indonesian commodity which has great potential in the international market. For example, what has been done in Madiun, one kilogram of konjac can cost up to Rp. 14,000. One hectare of fertile land can produce around 80 tons of tubers for one harvest within two years. One of the most popular products made by konjac is shirataki rice, which has a high selling price. Konjac grows a lot in Ponorogo and there is one of the programs initiated by the Ponorogo Regional Government which aims to provide stimulants in the form of seeds and supporting the existence of a konjac farmer association. Other than that, Perhutani, which is a State-Owned Enterprise in the Form of Public Company which focuses on the task and authority to manage state forest resources, also provides access to farmers to plant konjac around perennial crops. Based on this fact, the community service team conducted training assistance in processing konjac-based food. In addition, a cooking competition was also held to motivate the locals to be more enthusiastic in creating innovations related to this food recipe. Then the activity was closed with a focus group discussion (FGD) to listen to the aspirations of women who joined the family welfare movement (PKK)  in the four hamlets, Karangpatihan Village, Pulung District, Ponorogo Regency. This program needs to be done because, until now, the society perceives that konjac can cause an itchy feeling. By implementing this community service program, the community will develop a new perspective that konjac has many benefits. Apart from that, we really hope that the dissemination of knowledge and skills can make konjac-based food into an alternative food in Ponorogo.

Image 1.1: Dawet porang: one of the konjac-based culinary that has been taught to the members of PKK in Karangpatihan Village, Pulung, Ponorogo

Image 1.2: Various kinds of konjac-based culinary made by one of the groups who participated in the competition.

Image 1.3: The winners of the development of a konjac-based culinary competition.

Ending 2023, the FCS UGM English Literature Pradangga (Prasasti) gamelan group will perform in two places. Saturday, December 30, 2023, invited by the Wonogiri Regency Youth and Sports Department to perform at the 2023 Creative Economy Festival (Fesmikraf). The activity was centered in the Wonogiri City Square, starting at 16.00 and ending at 22.30.

The annual festival was attended by 12 art groups, most of whom were junior high school students and art studios. Prasasti is the only student group that comes from outside the Wonogiri Regency. The gamelan group led by Jardin Urbania Basundoro was allowed to go on stage at 21.00.

After the performance in Wonogiri, Prasasti was invited by the Indonesian Art Lovers and Artists Student Forum (Formatasindo) to perform on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2023. The arts performance activity entitled 12th Gamelan Parade 2023, is an annual activity initiated by the Trustee of Formatasindo, Dr.Sukisno, M.Pd. Activities are always placed at the Omah Tinggi Arts and Culture, Tritunggal Cultural Area, Tegalcorocanan Solodiran Manisrenggo Klaten.

The 12th Gamelan Parade which took place from 13.00 and ended at 01.00, was attended by 20 gamelan groups from various universities in Yogyakarta. Prasasti is one of the gamelan groups representing FIB UGM to perform this activity.

On that occasion, Prasasti performed two songs, respectively entitled Naliswati and Hyang, which were the works of Nanang Karbito. Nanang Karbito is an Inscription trainer daily. The man from Klaten is a composer of contemporary musical songs.

Naliswati tells the story of a couple’s relationship which fails halfway, while Hyang is a song that glorifies the glory of God. Through the song Hyang, humans are reminded to always remember the greatness and all the gifts from Almighty God.

Jardin Urbania Basundoro, who was interviewed by the MC after the performance, said that Prasasti is a gamelan group that has existed for a long time at FIB UGM. This group brings together English Literature students who are interested in practicing and playing gamelan which is a noble legacy of their ancestors. Through this activity, students are directed to carry out positive activities while practicing gentleness.

Author: Prof. Dr. Purnawan Basundoro, S.S., M.Hum.

Warm Greetings from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM

Happy New Year!

On behalf of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, we pray that this new year will bring blessings and success to all of us. Welcoming 2024, we would like to express our sincere appreciation for our cooperation so far. Hopefully, this new year will further strengthen our partnership and cooperation.

Thank You.

Warm regards,
Dean and the entire FIB UGM Family

Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Prof. Dr. Setiadi, M.Si approved the collaboration program proposed by Ma’arif Nahdlatul Ulama University Kebumen on July 17, 2023. This program is a collaborative seminar activity with the theme “Cross Cultural Understanding” which involves students of the Indonesian Language and Cultural Learning Service (INCULS) FIB, UGM, and the English Language Education Undergraduate Study Program, FKIP, UMNU Kebumen. This program is intended as a resource assignment for lecturers/teachers who are native speakers of English for enrichment lecture activities. This collaboration is carried out by proposing, organizing, and evaluating collaborative activity programs; which are scheduled for four years.

This program began to be realized on December 23 2023 by holding a Sharing Culture Talkshow event which was held at UMNU University Kebumen. In this event, the Faculty of Cultural Sciences sent several INCULS UGM students, including Sundas Ejaz from Pakistan, Nor Najinah Saad from Thailand, Sabrina Joy S. Tan from the Philippines, Mbemba Badjie from Gambia, and Ahmed Abdallah Faouzi Attia from Algeria. They are students studying culture at INCULS UGM and were accompanied in this series of events by Dr. Rudi Ekasiswanto, M. Hum. as Deputy Coordinator of INCULS UGM and Muhamad Zamchasari, S.S. as INCULS UGM teaching staff.

This event began with a Wayang Golek performance which told the multicultural history of Kebumen and continued with various Kebumen regional cultural performances including Kuda Lumping, Lawet Dance, and Pencak Silat Pagar Nusa by the students. Apart from that, traditional Kebumen culinary delights were also served to all participants. The next session was a talk show and presentation of the culture of each country by native speakers presented through INCULS FIB UGM.

This activity will become an annual program for students taking the Cross Cultural Understanding course organized by UMNU Kebumen together with the UGM Faculty of Cultural Sciences as their final project (UMNU Kebumen). This program aims to implement the Tri Dharma of Higher Education by developing collaborative activities that are mutually beneficial.

To deepen the study of Southeast Asia and deepen academic cooperation with Indonesia, the Faculty of Cultural Sciences held a special visit to the NCCU College of Foreign Language and Literature on December 15, 2023 (Friday). The delegation on this visiting team was Prof. Setiadi, M. Si., dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Dr. Nur Saktiningrum, SS, M. Hum, dean of academic and student affairs, and Drs. Muhadi Sugiono, M.A., a representative from the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies.

First of all, the Dean of NCCU College of Foreign Language and Literature, Zheng Jiayu, gave the opening speech. He thanked the group of guests from Indonesia who had come to visit. Next, the conversation was continued by Vice President Zhao Jingqi who gave a brief explanation about the NCCU College of Foreign Language and Literature. After that, we continued with Assistant Professor Cheng Ji Shiwei and Assistant Professor Bao Qiyun from the Bachelor of Southeast Asian Languages and Cultures who each introduced plans regarding Indonesian language courses and academic activities.

In the next material presentation session, Prof. Setiadi, M. Si., gave a presentation on the internationalization of Indonesian. Then Dr. Nur Saktiningrum, SS, M.Hum explained the academic environment of Gadjah Mada University by explaining the INCULS program owned by FIB UGM. The presentation from the FIB UGM team was closed by Drs. Muhadi Sugiono, M.A. explained that ASEAN Identity consists of politics and security, economics, society, and culture. The community supports Southeast Asia’s plan to build a community of “One Vision, One Identity, One Community” in the future.

Finally, Dean Zheng Jiayu and Prof. Dr. Setiadi, M. Si signed a cooperation agreement between the two institutions and exchanged copies. The agreement aims to increase academic cooperation between the two parties, including student exchanges, double degrees, consistent five-year bachelor/master plans, exchange of teachers and researchers, cooperation in organizing lectures, seminars, workshops, etc. .,. With the signing of this MOU, it is hoped that it can further enhance cooperation and exchanges between schools, enrich teaching and research material resources in Southeast Asia, provide more international exchange channels for teachers and students, and foster international professional relations.

At the same time, Zhao Jingqi, deputy dean and program director, signed an academic cooperation plan agreement between the program and the Southeast Asian Social Research Center with Drs. Muhadi Sugiono, MA, to promote cooperation in teaching and research between the two parties, such as summer course programs, internships, cooperative research, and publishing, etc.

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