The Department of Anthropology, Gadjah Mada University is again holding a Meniti Karir talk show entitled “Anthropology in Banking Economics”. This event will be held on Friday, November 10 2023 at the Multimedia Room, Fl. 2 Gd Margono, FIB, UGM. This event is open to Cultural Anthropology Students to provide students with insight into the various careers they can choose after graduating from college.

With the theme of Banking Economics, the Anthropology Department presented Reza Rachmadianto as Vice President of Special Asset Management PT. Bank Mandiri as a speaker at this event. Reza is also an alumnus of UGM Anthropology. Dr. Atik Triratnawati a lecturer in Anthropology at UGM was the trigger for this discussion.

This event began with a presentation session by Reza and continued with a question and answer session. In the final session of this event, Reza gave gifts in the form of electronic money from Livin by Mandiri to the 10 best quiz answerers. Then it closed with a group photo. We hope that this event can be useful for anthropology students in building their future careers.

Photo credit: Bonifacius Edo

Komodo National Park, as one of Indonesia’s natural treasures, has attracted the attention of tourists from all over the world. However, behind the charm of the islands and the unique fauna that reside within them, there is a deeper story about the Ata Modo tribe, which has been impacted by the rapid development of the tourism industry in the region. The Ata Modo tribe itself is a community that has inhabited the island of Komodo for a long time, even before the establishment of Komodo Island as the Komodo National Park. With the designation of Komodo National Park and the influx of tourism activities, the Ata Modo tribe experienced changes in their socio-cultural activities. One of them is the shift in the livelihood of the Ata Modo tribe.

The socio-cultural dynamics that occur in the Ata Modo tribe have been seen and investigated in the latest research by a research team that is part of the Student Creativity Program in Social Humanities Research (PKM-RSH) in 2023. This research team is called AtaModo UGM, consisting of Arif Putra Pratama (Faculty of Law 2020), Avicenna Elang (Faculty of Law 2021), An Nuur Khairune Nisa (Faculty of Cultural Sciences 2021), and Noor Risa Isnanto (Faculty of Cultural Sciences 2021). The research team was accompanied by an accompanying lecturer, namely  Dr. Dian Agung Wicaksono, S.H., LL.M. The research was conducted in approximately one week using participant observation methods, in-depth interviews, and searching for secondary sources from various literature and legislation.

The research entitled “Coercive Transformation of Indigenous Peoples: Marginalization of the Komodo Tribe Amid the Hegemony of Komodo National Park Tourism Development” seeks to find out about three things related to the social, cultural, and economic conditions of the Ata Modo tribal community. The research team succeeded in getting direct answers from the Ata Modo tribal community regarding three problem formulations. First, the Ata Modo tribe has cultural potential that can still be maintained and developed according to the needs of the Ata Modo tribe community and related parties who are interested in collaborating. By discovering the cultural potential that still exists in the Ata Modo tribe, the research team realized that this was to Koentjaraningrat’s theory regarding the seven elements of culture consisting of language, knowledge system, social organization, technology, livelihood system, belief system, and art. Second, it was discovered that until now there has been no legal determination of Komodo Village as a Customary Law Community or designation of a Traditional Village, this could result in a conflict of interest and the overriding of the traditional rights of the Ata Modo tribal community. Third, the arrival of the Komodo National Park and the tourism industry has made the Ata Modo tribal community experience a coercive transformation in social, cultural, and economic aspects.

Therefore, through this research, the PKM-RSH team hopes that these findings will provide valuable understanding and considerations for all parties involved in developing Komodo National Park tourism. In this context, special focus is given to the Ata Modo Tribe which is the center of attention, so that they can be actively involved in efforts to protect their cultural heritage and local wealth. This approach is also in line with the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 11 regarding sustainable city and community development, in which the Ata Modo Tribe, as a community that has long lived on Komodo Island, also plays an important role.

Writer: Member of the UGM PKM-RSH AtaModo Team

Sleman, (17/11/2023) – Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada (FIB UGM) held a Culture Day event to strengthen the bond between lecturers, teaching staff, and students. The Culture Day event is held once a month, every Friday in the third week.

“Culture Day has various events ranging from music performances, singing, and sports together. Some of the sports offered include ping pong, badminton, aerobic exercise, fitness, and healthy walking. (“The students also participated,” said Vice Dean for Research, Community Service, Cooperation and Alumni of the Faculty, Dr Mimi Savitri, M.A., at the Faculty on Friday (17/11/2023).

The Culture Day event held by FIB UGM has a special dress code, with a white basic t-shirt paired with any kind of pants. The event began with the registration of participants at 7 AM. After that, it was followed by remarks and the launching of a healthy juices program for FIB UGM residents by the Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences. Furthermore, the Culture Day event was closed with sports and music for one hour from eight to nine in the morning.

“Singing accompanied by music and followed by breakfast and drinking juice so that (Culture Day participants) are healthy,” concluded Mimi.

The new British Ambassador to Indonesia, Dominic Jermey made his first official visit to Yogyakarta on 17 November 2023. On this occasion, he delivered a public lecture at the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Gadjah Mada on UK-Indonesia bilateral relations in the fields of education, politics, climate change, digitalisation, arts and culture.

The event began with a warm welcome delivered by the Vice Dean for Research, Community Service, Cooperation, and Alumni, Dr. Mimi Savitri, M.A. In her opening speech, Dr. Mimi Savitri sincerely expressed her appreciation for the high level of bilateral cooperation that has existed between the UK and Indonesia over the years. She emphasised the importance of this relationship as a foundation for further cooperation in academic and social fields.

The next segment was Dominic Jermey’s ambassadorial speech. In his speech, he stated that he had high hopes for the students present in the room to become the successors of the country’s development relay. He highlighted some crucial issues that are being faced by all countries in the world, namely climate change. According to him, the issue of climate change must be brought up and discussed further because the earth that is inhabited today will one day be inherited by younger generations. Students – he continued – can guard this problem according to their portion.

In the last half of his speech, Dominic Jermey warmly welcomed students who had the intention to continue their studies in the UK. He expressed his appreciation for the dedication of the prospective students. Dominic also encouraged the students and gave them the full support of the UK government to ensure the success of their academic journey in the country. In addition, he emphasised the importance of cooperation between countries in supporting knowledge exchange and global human resource development.

The public lecture session was closed with a Q&A session, where participants were given the opportunity to ask questions directly to Dominic Jermey. This session created an interactive atmosphere that allowed for an exchange of ideas and views between the speaker and the audience. Afterwards, the event was closed with a group selfie session.

Sleman (15/11/2023) – The Department of Archeology and the Archeology Student Association of Gadjah Mada University (HIMA) held a collaborative exhibition entitled Sagara Amarta in the series of the VI Archeology Festival with the theme of the Austronesian journey. The Sagara Amarta exhibition is located at the Soegondo Hall, 1st Floor, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University (FIB-UGM).

“At the Sagara Amarta exhibition stand at this year’s VI Archeology Festival, we from HIMA collaborated with several creative product business actors belonging to tourist villages around Borobudur Temple,” said HIMA Chair, Nurul Athifah, at Selamat Hall Soegondo, Wednesday 15 November 2023.

Nurul Athifah added that creative products belonging to tourist villages uphold local wisdom values. Apart from creative products from tourist villages around Borobudur Temple, creative products from UGM Archeology students were also displayed. The Sagara Amarta Exhibition also featured the UGM Majapahit Mandala. Apart from that, there are also culinary stands and photobooths.

“This event is free entry from 10 to 5 pm,” concluded Nurul Athifah.

Meanwhile, the collaborating parties were students’ creative product circles, one of whom was Mandira Brick, all of whom, Ahmad Zaki, said that the aim of participating in this exhibition was to introduce Mandira Brick products as student work. The Mandira Brick product itself is in the form of dismantling miniature temples like Lego, but using the interlock system in the temple.

“Mandira Brick has a mission to educate and introduce the preservation of cultural heritage, architectural art and temple construction techniques in Indonesia,” stressed Zaki.

Archaeological Festival VI: Sagara Amarta Exhibition on 15-17 November 2023 at the 1st Floor of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University (FIB-UGM) held in collaboration with the Department of Archeology and the Archeology Student Association of Gadjah Mada University (HIMA) in collaboration with Borobudur Village Exotica , Pasek, Kahitz, Mandira Brick, Botak Shoes Cleaner (BSC), and Cuci Motor Mas Boy, sponsored by RH Dental Clinic (RDH), Jogja Agrapana Water Filter, and Sekar Tanjung Dance Studio.

Credit by Aditya Revianur, S.Hum., M.Hum.