On 2nd of October 2024, at Soegondo Building Auditorium, Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) was honored to receive a visit from students of SMAN 2 Kuta Selatan. This activity aims to provide insight into the excellence of FIB UGM and explain the career prospects for graduates.

In the event, representatives of undergraduate and postgraduate students of FIB UGM shared their experiences and reasons why they chose this faculty. Aisyah Riska, a graduate student majoring in Linguistics, revealed that her initial interest came from the many renowned linguistic experts who teach at the Faculty. “This faculty has experienced and well-known lecturers in their fields, which is certainly an added value for us as students,” said Aisyah.

Meanwhile, Sandya Kirani, an undergraduate student from Anthropology department, added that the Faculty is ranked first in Indonesia and around 50th in the world. “I feel proud to be able to study at this highly reputable faculty. This is an important consideration for me in choosing a major,” she explained.

The event also discussed job prospects for graduates of FIB UGM. Many alumni have successfully pursued careers as ambassadors, translators, lecturers, and CEOs in the tourism sector. This shows that education at FIB UGM is not only qualified, but also relevant to the needs of the current world of work.

In the context of international cooperation, FIB UGM also establishes partnerships with various institutions abroad. This cooperation includes student exchange programs, joint research, and international seminars, which certainly enrich students’ learning experience. Hopefully, this visit can provide inspiration and motivation for them in determining their next educational steps.

As a form of community service, the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Student Association (Kamastawa) held another “Kamastawa Teaching and Sharing” event on Sunday, October 22, 2024. This event is the result of collaboration between the social and community division (sosmas) and the scientific division, with the aim of having a positive impact on society, especially for children at the Wirobrajan branch of the PYI Yatim and Zakat Orphanage, Yogyakarta.

There were 16 children from grade 1 elementary to 1 junior high school involved in the event. The event opened at 09.00 AM WIB with an opening session and introductions. During the event, students and children had the opportunity to play together, creating a cheerful atmosphere with jokes and laughter. This togetherness became an important foundation in building intimacy between students and participants.

Opening session and introductions

After the introductory session and games, the event continued with teaching and learning activities. Participants were divided into three groups according to educational level: group 1 for grades 1-2 elementary school, group 2 for grades 3-4 elementary school, and group 3 for grades 5 elementary school to 1 junior high school. Each group received materials tailored to their age and level of understanding, ranging from daily Javanese conversation, Javanese script writing, Javanese assignment consultation, and so on. Various teaching methods were used by the students to make learning fun and easy for the children to understand.

Teaching-learning session

After the learning session was over, it was time for ice breaking, where the participants were invited to sing together the song aja ndomblong aja and follow the guessing game with prizes. This session succeeded in sparking the children to be active in an exciting way.

The children’s enthusiasm could be felt from the beginning to the end of the activity, especially during the distribution of small gifts as an appreciation for the participants’ activeness. In addition, Kamastawa also provided Pepak Basa Jawa books and reading books as a form of support for the participants future educational development. It is hoped that participants can easily access knowledge and enrich their insights, including those related to knowledge and preservation of Javanese culture.

The gifts given may be considered simple. However, prayers, hopes, and sincere intentions to share will live on and become the foundation in the implementation of the ‘Kamastawa teach and share’ program now and in the future.

Author : Haryo Untoro

Saturday and Sunday, September 14 and 15, 2024 – UGM Korean Language Student Association held a Fellowship Training event with the theme “빚나는 꿈” which means “Shining dreams”. The Fellowship Training event was held for two days in Lecture Room 707 Soegondo, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM and in Greenland Margono Courtyard. This event was attended by students of Korean Language and Culture Class of 2023 and Class of 2024.

On the first day, the series of Fellowship Training 2024 events were enlivened by Batch 22 students as guest speakers of the Talkshow session. Through this session, the seniors provided information about student exchange opportunities to South Korea and tips and tricks in taking the TOPIK exam. The new students were also able to learn more about the Korean Language and Culture study program at UGM. After the Talkshow session, the Fellowship Training 2024 event was also enlivened by various performances of new students of Batch 2024 which were very entertaining.

The Fellowship Training 2024 event continued on September 15, 2024. The second day of the event was enlivened by gymnastics together, Random Play Dance, and various exciting games such as glass tower, Hangeul writing, Hangeul relay, Telepathy game, Inmul quiz, Tuho Quiz, Tongue twister, and ended with Mystery box.

Fellowship Training 2024 is one of HIMAHARA’s work programs that aims to strengthen the sense of togetherness and introduce the Korean Language and Culture study program to new students of the Class of 2024. In addition, this activity can also be a means to get information about opportunities that can be utilized in the future, as well as creating a good community in supporting lectures.

For more information, please access HIMAHARA’s Instagram account @himaharaugm.

Author: HIMAHARA/Candy Valerie
Editor: Sena Valin

On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, the Master’s Program in Middle Eastern Cultural Studies in collaboration with the Bachelor’s Program in Arabic Literature at Universitas Gadjah Mada held a National Seminar on the theme of Palestine: From Nakba to Tufan Al-Aqsa at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM. The event invited experts in Arabic literature and culture, namely Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M.Hum. and Prof. Dr. Fadlil Munawwar Manshur, M.S., from Gadjah Mada University and Dr. Uki Sukiman, M.Ag. from UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. The three speakers discussed the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from 1948 and the struggle of the Palestinian people to gain state sovereignty.

In the first session, Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M.Hum. raised the hot issue of the Palestinian people who on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 yesterday, commemorated 76 years of Nakba (the day of catastrophe or the day of disaster) which as is known that May 15, 1948 was the day of the outbreak of the first Arab-Israeli war. The first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 lasted for approximately 10 months until it ended in March 1949, with Arab defeat. The Gaza War or Operation Tufan Al-Aqsa, which erupted on October 7, 2023, deserves to be called the second Nakba because this operation was the largest Palestinian resistance attack against Israel launched by the resistance faction in Gaza, Hamas, against the Israeli side in Palestine. This operation revealed a large number of depravity and rottenness of the Zionist government and its Western allies, as well as the breakdown of the justice system and global ethical and moral standards.

The second session of the seminar was continued by Prof. Dr. Fadlil Munawwar Manshur, M.S. who focused on the discussion related to the struggle of Palestinian Arab writers in literary works, both poetry and novels. Prof. Fadlil said that the Nakba tragedy had given birth to literary works in the form of Arabic poetry and short stories containing the resistance of the Palestinian people against Israel. The poems and short stories use the iltizam language style, which is a language style that contains the resistance of the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation. The advantage of this iltizam language style lies in the ability of poets and short stories in describing the cultural conflict between Arab-Palestinian culture and Jewish-Israeli culture.

One of the Palestinian Arab writers who continues to produce literary works of resistance is Mahmoed Darwish. Entering the third discussion, Dr. Uki Sukiman revealed the role of the United States and Israel in Mahmoed Darwisy’s prose. He explained that the Palestinians must be freed from the political commodities of the United States. So far, the United States has used the Palestinian issue as a “line” to defend its interests in the region. According to Dr. Uki, stronger pressure is needed from the international community to Israel on the basis of respect for the universal principles of relations between countries that are anti-oppression, anti-colonialism and against all forms of colonialism. This pressure is expected to condemn and urge Israel to withdraw from Palestinian land.

Yogyakarta, 01/06/2024-The Arabic Literature Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) announced that one of its students has successfully completed an internship program at Mojok Book Publisher, Yogyakarta. This internship program began on February 19, 2024 and ended on May 31, 2024, for approximately three months. During this period, students were involved in various publishing activities including manuscript editing, literature research, and product marketing.

There were three students from the Faculty of Humanities who participated in this internship program, one of whom came from the Arabic Literature Study Program, Elvira Sundari, and the other two came from the French Language and Literature Study Program, Muhammad Ardan Fitriansyah and Catharina Maida. Accompanied by French Language and Literature Lecturer, Ari Bagus Panuntun, S.S., M.A., and working under the auspices of the Mojok Book Editorial team, they had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the book publishing process from the beginning to the end.

The purpose of this internship program is to provide students with practical experience that can complement their academic knowledge so that it is relevant to the skills needed in the publishing industry. Student interns also have the opportunity to publish their own work. They were entrusted by the Mojok Book Editor to write the book Jelajah Kuliner Lokal: Caring for Food, Caring for Sovereignty, which was a collaborative project with Paniradya Kaistimewaan. As a final project, they also managed to publish their first book entitled Yang Harus Kamu Baca Sebelum Kuliah di Jogja. Both books can be purchased at the Mojok Store online and offline bookstore.

This internship experience not only benefits the students but also strengthens the relationship between the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM and the publishing industry in Yogyakarta. The success of this program shows the commitment of the Faculty of Humanities UGM in bridging the gap between education and industry. The collaboration between the Faculty and Mojok Book Publisher also opens up opportunities for further cooperation in the future, both in the form of internship programs and other publishing projects.