SDG 4: Quality education | SDGs 4: Basic literacy skills | SDGs 8: Creativity and innovation | SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDG 17: Partnerships for goals | SDGs 17: Fostering innovation

Sunday, May 5, 2024 was the last day of a series of Pasar Jembar events held at Jogja Nation Museum Bloc. The event offered many diverse UMKM stands that you could try on the spot or take home. Everything from traditional cuisine to antiques were sold there. Aside from selling local brands, the event also provided an open stage for entertainment where local communities could take part. One of the communities that enlivened the stage was the Gadjah Mada University Postgraduate Art community, commonly known as SAGA. SAGA sent representatives from the dance division to perform their Nyawiji Mukti dance and from the theater division to perform a poetry musicalization entitled “Kau Peluk Luka Punyaku” by Inri Savitri.

Interestingly, the delegate of the theater division is a graduate student from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Linguistics study program, class of 2022. Her name is Aisyah Riska. Apart from being active in the academic field, she is also active in developing her talents in the arts by joining several art communities during lectures. This 25-year-old woman often performs at various events and art performances, one of which on this occasion was at the Pasar Jembar event. With her ability to read poetry, she managed to hypnotize the audience with her poetry musicalization. The audience was touched by her recitation of a religious poem about God who accompanies us when we are wounded and is able to heal it. “I want to awaken people to remember that in the most painful situation they are not alone, there is God who always holds them tight, so be strong and get closer to Him,” she said.

SDG 4: Quality education | SDGs 4: Access to education | SDGs 4: Education | SDGs 4: Education for sustainability 

Universitas Gadjah Mada has made achievements in the Program Kompetisi Kampus Merdeka (PKKM) organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture Research and Technology, Directorate General of Higher Education Research and Technology. UGM study programs that successfully received PKKM funding for the First Year 2024 were Chemistry, Food Technology and Agricultural Products and Agronomy. In this Second Year, the Cultural Anthropology Study Program was the only study program from Universitas Gadjah Mada that was again successful in qualifying to continue the programs that had been carried out in the First Year PKKM 2023. 

The Directorate of Institutions determines 169 study programs / MBKMISS as candidates for the Program Kompetisi Kampus Merdeka Assistance for the Second Year of Fiscal Year 2024. Study program/ISS-MBKM data can be seen in the attachment to the letter sent by the Directorate of Institutions to the Head of Higher Education on the attached list. Then they also congratulated the study programs /ISS-MBKM from the selected universities to continue the second year of PKKM.

Due to the partial blocking of the 2024 PKKM budget by the Directorate General of Budget at the Finance Ministry of the Republic of Indonesia, the effective implementation of the Second Year PKKM Fiscal Year 2024 is estimated to be for 5 (five) months. Previously, the Cultural Anthropology study program in the first year received DIKTI funds amounting to 1,339,964,000. In the second year, data verification is still being carried out for each study program that passes. We congratulate the Cultural Anthropology study program which is part of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences for its achievement in obtaining PKKM Funding in 2024. Hopefully it can develop sustainable innovations for the people of Indonesia.

SGDs 4: Quality Education | SGDs 5: Gender Equality | SGDs 5: Empowerment of Women |  SGDs 10: Reduced Inequalities | SGDs 17: Fostering Innovation

Bulan Churniati, an English Department student batch 2021, achieved the Penghargaan Favorit Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024 awards on Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024 event. Before receiving this award, Bulan accomplished many achievements, for example, the winner of Digital Entrepreneurship Hackathon 2023 by held UNESCO UNITWIN in South Korea, the third place in the national competition Publicly Digital Legal Innovation 2023 held by Oleco, dan became the ambassador of Millennial KAMI Foundation x Tjorak Sorai 2023.

Bulan is committed to give her best efforts in everything she does. This strong determination stems from her will to partake in women empowerment. 

“Wong wedok ora usah melu-melu, which means: women are not supposed to intervene. That saying is embedded in my heart and mind. This is the reason I participate in prestigious awards and build a branding around this issue. I just want other women to realize that new opportunities are available to us, and I hope those women will use those chances. I do not want to be the only woman who fights for this, I want to join forces with other women as well.” Said Bulan about her motivation to participate in Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024. 

Bulan went through a long process to prepare herself for participating in this event. The first step she had to undergo was the administration selection. She had to prepare three things on this stage. First, an English proficiency certificate. If the participant does not have an English proficiency certificate yet, they will be facilitated to take the AcEPT test if they pass to the next stage. Second, list of achievements. The limited number of achievements to be included in the list is ten, so the participant should select the best achievements they have. Third, an innovation proposal. In this event, Bulan wrote a proposal titled “In-Eksklusif: Program Peningkatan Kesempatan Eksklusif untuk Pelaku Ekonomi Inklusif”, a program to increase exclusive opportunities for inclusive businesses. This proposal correlates with Bulan’s IT background and humanistic perspective. 

In the faculty selection, the participant will present their ideas and answer questions from the juries in a 30-minute session. One student will be granted the award of Mahasiswa Berprestasi Utama and represent the faculty in the Supercamp event, where they will present their list of achievements and innovation proposals. In this event, the committee will select three winners for three categories: bachelor program, diploma program, and favorite.

Bulan gained valuable insights after participating in Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024, “We have to prepare ourselves to be let down by the results if we are participating in competition. We also have to make sure that we have adequate experiences.”

After winning the Penghargaan Favorit Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024 award, Bulan went back to her daily routine. She is currently working on her thesis, while also still participating in many competitions and positive activities. Bulan said she still wants to try competing in this event, if she has not graduated next year. She also encouraged other students to participate in the Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM event, “For other students in the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, don’t be afraid to send your application! There are not many students in our faculty who are willing to participate in this event. Don’t forget to prepare all the documents early because of the short period of the submission. Always be humble, because being a Mahasiswa Berprestasi doesn’t transform you into the student with the highest position; you are just a representative.”

SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institution | SDGs 8: Culture | SDGs 4: Equal access : SDGs 2 : Food | SDGs 1: Non-discrimination

In the framework of Eid al-Fitr 1445 H coupled with Syawalan, the Big Family of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM consisting of lecturers, staff, part-timer, full-timer, and students of FIB attended the Syawalan event which was held on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at the Open Stage of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM. Starting from 08.00 until 10.30, this event began with a session of shaking hands and forgiveness by marching around the Margono building courtyard right after the registration desk at the south entrance of FIB. The atmosphere was warmly decorated with smiles from every invited guest who greeted each other. This agenda was very much in line with the theme of the event, namely Merajut Ukhuwah untuk Kemajuan FIB UGM.

In connection with the theme, the Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences expressed his hope in his opening speech that in the future the FIB family would synergize well with each other to achieve other extraordinary achievements, considering that FIB had just received a major achievement where 4 of its departments entered the 200 world rankings and specifically Anthropology entered the world’s top 51 along with other anthropology study programs from world-renowned campuses. “Actually, we do not expect any awards, but thanks to the cooperation that we have built well to give the best so far, it has resulted in something to be proud of in the eyes of the world. Hopefully we can help each other maintain our achievements. Thank you to the seniors or predecessors who have worked together to build FIB, thank you to all who are currently trying, and hopefully our next generation can give their best to be able to continue and further advance FIB in the future,” said Prof. Dr. Setiadi, S.Sos., M.Si.

There were several other event agendas such as recitation of tilawah and sari tilawah, introduction of new lecturers and staff, a speech on the theme of syawalan wisdom presented by, Dr. Rudy Wiratama, S.I.P., M.A., and a prayer by Hamdan, M.A.. The event was also made lively by the distribution of various door prizes ranging from pots, stoves, sarongs, rice cookers, and many other interesting prizes. The event was closed by the MC by inviting invited guests to enjoy the lunch that had been provided. The dishes prepared include meatballs, lontong opor, young coconut ice, soup, and snacks that are delicious especially coupled with the togetherness created during the eating session together. It is hoped that with this event, the kinship within the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada will become stronger and avoid conflict so that it can bring FIB forward together.

SDG 4: Quality education | SDGs 4: Education in developing | SDGs 4: Education | SDGs 4: Access to education | SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth | SDGs 8: Creativity and innovation | SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure | SDGs 9: Affordable access | SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions | SDGs 16: Accountable institutions | SDGs 16: Education | SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals | SDGs 17: Capacity building | SDGs 17: Fostering innovation

Just as additional information about the position of the Anthropology department of FIB UGM, in the middle of a collection of anthropology departments in the world, is now at level 51-100 (top 100). The question is: approximately whether the UGM Anthropology department is at the same level as anthropology departments at other universities? The answer is very surprising. UGM Department of Anthropology is on the same level as Anthropology departments at the following universities: Monash University (Australia), John Hopkins University, Northwestern University (USA), Radboud University in Nijmegen (Netherlands), City University of New York (CUNY) where Eric Wolf is a famous anthropology figure; a famous Anthropology figure, University of California San Diego, University of North Carolina (where James Peacock, who researched Muhammadiyah in Yogya), Oslo University, Bergen University (where Fredrik Barth a famous Norwegian anthropologist), University of Illinois (where Edward Bruner, who researched Batak people, and many more anthropology departments in other famous universities. Congratulations to our Anthropology friends!

Dean of Faculty of Arts UGM, Prof. Dr. Setiadi, said the achievement of Anthropology UGM was certainly very proud considering it is very rare for study programs in Indonesia to enter the top 100 in the world. “For Faculty of Cultural Sciences, this achievement becomes a trigger as well as learning so that other study programs can enter the same category,” Setiadi told reporters on Saturday (13/4). He acknowledged the success of Anthropology Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM in being ranked 51 QS World University Rankings (WUR) by Subject for 2024 is inseparable from the excellence of academic assessment, publications, number of citations, impact to the quality of graduates produced. According to him, the support provided by FIB UGM in the availability of research funds, opening up opportunities for cooperation, and facilitating the development of human resources for further studies greatly supports this study program to be more advanced and international. “Moreover, we at FIB already have a policy to determine lecturers who must graduate from doctoral degree and recruitment of new lecturers must also have doctoral degrees,” he said.