SGDs 4: Quality Education| SGDs 5: Gender Equality | SGDs 10: Reduced Inequalities

Two representatives of English Department UGM: Alvanita, M. Ed. and Paris Mercurio visited MA Al Ikhlas Berbah on Saturday, 11 March 2024. This event is a part of community services conducted by English Department UGM. Headmistress of MA Al Ikhlas Berbah, Ika Bude Lestari, S.Pd., gave a warm welcoming speech in the beginning of the event. Afterwards, the presentation and Q&A sessions began.

In the presentation session, Alvanita, M.Ed. motivated the students to learn English. She highlighted how important it is to be proficient in English, especially if one wants to pursue higher education or professional careers. She also gave the students tips on learning English outside the class. The second presenter, Paris Mercurio told the students about her experiences living in the United States. She gave the students tips to overcome their nervousness when using English in conversations. The students, who were shy to respond at the presentation session, gradually became more engaged throughout the Q&A session. 

Students and teachers of MA Al-Ikhlas Berbah responded positively towards the event, sharing their opinions that other programs to increase students’ interest in learning English should be conducted again in the future. The urgency of conducting those programs is due to low frequency of English learning in rural areas like Berbah, which is affected by the existing presumption of the lack of urgency to be proficient in English.

Alvanita, M.Ed. discussed the continuation of this program with the English teacher of MA Al-Ikhlas Berbah (Ervina Juli Aryani) after the event. One of the proposed activities is increasing English literacy through reading literature works. Every week, the students will read English short stories and write their reviews. Afterwards, an offline discussion monitored by Alvanita, M.Ed. and Ms. Ervina will be conducted every one or two months in order to track the students’ progress in learning English.

SDGs 4: Quality Education

In every corner of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, students can generally find a corner that is different from the rest of the faculty. One such corner is the departmental library, a library located in a particular study program that becomes a reference place for students of that department for literacy as well as a study and discussion space. The Archaeology UGM Department Library or Archaeology UGM Reference Room is one of the unique corner places within the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM.

Located in Margono Building, 2nd floor, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, this library is often a common place for Archaeology UGM students who want to find a comfortable and conducive space. Several collections of archaeology and history books, cultural art books, magazines, journals, and theses are stored at the Archaeology UGM Department Library. Specific collections such as colonial, classical, Hindu-Buddhist, architecture, Islamic heritage, prehistory, and others can also be found in this library. UGM student visitors who want to find a particular book can search through the digital catalog available. Book borrowing is open to UGM students within the faculty and outside the faculty, as long as they register and pay a small fee of Rp5,000 to Rp30,000, for a membership card with a certain payment package.

“The book collection is quite large and gets most of it from donations, all donations. Purely 100% of the current book collection is from alumni, lecturers, Balai Arkeologi, and Mayangkara magazine,” said Aqsha Gunawan, Coordinator of the Archaeology UGM Department Library, regarding the comprehensive library collections and renewal of the existing collection.

In terms of routine management, the Archaeology UGM Department Library has some divisions in supporting library operations, namely the cataloging division, repair division, data entry division, and inventory division. Visitors who come can also enjoy safe and comfortable study room facilities along with certain fee infrastructure such as printing assignments, storing items, and purchasing the latest book collections. Operating hours take place during weekdays (Monday to Friday) with operating hours from 09.00-16.00 WIB.

SGDs 4: Quality Education | SGDs 17: Partnerships For The Goals

On Thursday, 29th of February 2024, English Department UGM accepted a visit from the representative of Oberlin Shansi, Mr. Gavin Tritt, to discuss new collaboration programs between two universities that have undergone seventy-years of partnership. One of the programs discussed is Oberlin Shansi’s Visiting Scholar Program, once participated in by Mr. Adi Sutrisno, the Head of the English Department. The Oberlin Shansi’s Visiting Scholar Program is a fully funded program by Oberlin Shansi which allows the English Department lecturers to improve their scholarly growth. 

During the stay at Oberlin, the lecturers will do various activities: auditing courses to observe undergraduate teaching, learning new research methodologies, developing their academic writing, utilizing college resources and faculty mentorship to develop research projects and proposals, and many more. Upon their return from this program, the participating lecturers are expected to share their experiences during their stay at Oberlin, mentor other faculty members who are searching for international opportunities, and continue the collaboration with Oberlin Shansi. The program typically lasts for a semester, but Oberlin Shansi welcomes lecturers who proposed shorter visits as well. 

This program will provide opportunities for English Department lecturers to gain new insight and experiences for their professional development. Along with other forms of collaboration, Oberlin Shansi’s Visiting Scholar Program will help to strengthen the partnership between the English Department and Oberlin Shansi.

SDG 2: Zero Hunger | SDGs 2: End hunger | SDG 5: Gender equality | SDGs 5: Equality | SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation | SDGs 6: Clean water | SDG 10: Reduced inequalities | SDGs 10: Children | SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDGs 11: Community | SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions | SDGs 16: Conflicts | SDG 17: Partnerships for goals | SDGs 17: Global partnership

In the midst of the raging conflict, the Palestinian people continue to struggle tirelessly to survive. To find out more about their condition and struggle, students of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada attended a TALK SHOW entitled “The Struggle of Palestinian Women and Children Amidst the Israeli Onslaught” with FATMA ALGHUSAIN as the guest speaker. She is the Executive Director of Amna Care Fund, an organization that helps the Palestinian people, especially women and children. “I have experienced four wars while living in Palestine. But this one is not a war. This is genocide!” She said. Mrs Fatma Alghusain also explained the current situation in Palestine.

This activity will be held on Tuesday, 26 March 2024 at 11.00 – 13.00 WIB at Soegondo Building 709 for participants who can attend offline, and via the zoom link for participants who can only follow the event remotely or online. As a form of solidarity for the freedom of the Palestinian people, talk show participants can also prepare their best infaq. In addition to students, the event was also attended by the Head of Arabic Literature Study Programme UGM, Dr Zulfa Purnamawati, S. S., M.Hum. and Mr Imam Hidayat, S.Pd.I., M.Pd. as a representative of Dompet Dhuafa Yogyakarta. After the Q&A session ended, the Head of Arabic Literature UGM handed over souvenirs to the speakers. With this cooperation between the Arabic literature programme and the Dompet Dhuafa, it is hoped that it can make people aware of the current conditions in Palestine.

SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDGs 11: Community | SDG 17: Partnership for goals | SDGs 17: Fostering innovation 

Tak Kenal Maka Tak Sayang. This is a proverb that is often heard in our ears, which contains an extraordinary meaning, namely a call to get to know each other so that good relations are established between fellow human beings. Therefore, in order to strengthen the bond of brotherhood, the Linguistic Family of Gadjah Mada or abbreviated as Kalingga held a MAKRAB KALINGGA event held at Villa Darmawan Kaliurang on 8-9 March 2024. The event was attended by the Gadjah Mada Linguistics Master Student Family from various batches, where the organizers were linguistics students from batch 2023 as well as Kalingga administrators.

With the theme “Menyala Kalinggaku“, a series of events were arranged as interesting as possible to ignite the enthusiasm of the participants in establishing cooperation such as playing games, barbeque, karaoke, congregational prayer, and eating together. The event was closed on the next day by giving prizes to the winners of the games and then a group photo. Kalingga Chairperson, Yuliana Kristianti, in her closing remarks was very grateful to the participants who attended the event, especially the seniors who still took the time to attend to meet and play with their juniors. She also hoped that with the end of the event, the kinship between students would be even closer.