A group of UGM students empowered rural communities to build Children’s Reading Houses and initiated preschool (PAUD) activities that were integrated with Healthcare Center (posyandu). The program which was implemented in Batur Hamlet, Wonolelo Village, Sawangan District, and Magelang Regency is expected to increase the literacy of the local community.

Literacy is the ability to read, write, and understand which is very fundamental for human life. According to a survey on the level of public literacy by PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) in 2015, Indonesia is still ranked 60th out of a total of 72 countries. Rural and remote areas often have lower literacy rates than urban areas, one of which is due to limited facilities.

Seeing this situation, Dinda Hermiranti P. from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Erlina Fahrunisa from the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Rodhliyah Nur Wulan from the Faculty of Philosophy, Antonius Aditya J. and MSC Gemilang from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Assisted by Communication Studies lecturer Lisa Lindawati, SIP, MA, together with the residents of Dusun Batur, were moved to establish the Anak Karung Goni Reading House. This hamlet is located on the slopes of Mount Merbabu and directly with Mount Merbabu National Park. Quite high and far from the center of government, this village can only be accessed via 2 narrow concrete roads with cliffs on the left and right of the road. The name Karung Goni was taken to describe simplicity with broad benefits, in line with the spirit of UGM.

For now, this reading house still contains books for children aged 3-15 years considering that the younger generation is a crucial element that must be immediately introduced to literacy. The books are placed in one of the residents’ houses which can also be used as a Children’s Learning Post. As for toddler, literacy improvement activities are carried out integrated with Posyandu through PAUD. Together with the Literacy Heroes and the Education Heroes who have been empowered, these two programs are the starting point for the development of literacy in Dusun Batur. Now, from an early age, Dusun Batur children can interact with books and educational toys that are more accessible and self-managed by residents.

Temples are one of the most popular cultural artefacts people visit and interact with. Yet, as of right now, the cultural aspect is rarely disseminated and discussed upon, even at popular ones such as Borobudur and Prambanan. To change this condition, Rachmat Krismono (Archeology), Assajie Satyananda (Archeology) and Tommy Wahyu (Computer Science), created an app to enable visitors to understand temple reliefs, called Nirbana.

The Nirbana app, available on the Play Store, utilized SpeedUp Robust Feature, Historical K-means and Augmented Reality to enable visitors to see and access information on the reliefs just by pointing their smartphone cameras to the reliefs.

This innovation has been funded by DIKTI, and has been exhibited at Margono Building’s corridors on the 2st floor on June 26-28, 2019. This exhibiton is held in conjunction with the exhibition of Arca Heads of Borobudur, held by the Archeology Graduate Programme of FIB UGM.

In 2018, calls to transform UGM’s Diploma-3 programs into Diploma-4 surfaced. Balairung, as one of UGM’s student press, took part in discussing the idea. This change is a part of UGM’s efforts to raise UGM’s rankings beside other World Class Universities, and to fulfill the working world’s needs for Diploma-4 graduates.

Responding to the phenomenon, Prodi S1 Pariwisata UGM, represented by 4 lecturers, held a sharing session on Tuesday, June 24 2019 with lecturer from Griffith University’s Tourism major, Dr. Maria Dharmesti.

As a program that also exists in SV UGM, the S1 Pariwisata program seeks to map and further define the curriculum of the D4 and S1 program to avoid overlap between the curriculums. The discussion went on for 2 hours at Soegondo room no. 611 engagingly. Digging deep into the two programs, it was found that the two programs have already mutually accomodated each other, with both footed on academic and scientific methods, connected with the realities existing in society, mutually benefitting and developing.

The discussion ended with a conclusion that the D4 program should focus on technical roles, and the S1 program will focus on analytical and managerial roles, and that both could take on strategic challenges anywhere alumnae works. The discussion also hopes that the working world could differentiate the competencies and focus which educational institutions had formulated, avoiding mismatch.

Tuesday June 25th 2019, Prodi Arkeologi UGM pre-launched “Kuasa Makna, Perspektif Baru dalam Arkeologi Indonesia” at Multimedia Room, Margono Building. The book, poised to be a new wave in Indonesian Archeology, was composed by Dr. Daud Aris Tanudirjo, Drs. Tjahjono Prasodjo, M.A, Drs. J.S. Edy Yuwono, Dwi Pradnyawan, M.A and Adieyatna Fajri, M.A.

The pre-launch is also part of the 73rd Anniversary of FIB UGM, held throughout 2019, to create a platform for each department to hold their own scientific programs. Also attending this event, Dr. Suzie Handayani, as moderator and head of the FIB UGM Anniversary program, Dr. Kris Budiman and Prof. Dr. P. M. Laksono as discussers of the book’s contents.

The first session consists of presentation by each contributor with discussions from the discussers. Dr. Daud presents the current condition of Indonesian Archeology, which he sees as having too much fun within itself, resulting in disability to develop itself further. Dr. Daud corroborates the condition, calling the field as too enticed by romanticism and formality of methods. Dr. Daud mentions that Archeology shouldn’t be the only source of truth, or the ultimate source of truth, instead should be creating spaces and discourses for others to discuss and interpret.

Further in the discussion, Prof. Dr. P. M. Laksono discusses the meaning of the word “Kuasa” and “Makna”, the title of the book, which was not discussed in the book itself. Dr. Kris Budiman discusses on the routes Archeology could take, either to go deeper into Archeology or ‘minggat’ into interdisciplinary fields.

Whatever it is, the book should be appreciated and accepted, while the book will go on further edits and improvements after publishing, allowing readers to enjoy the book and the spiritual routes they could take, and bring Archeology further.

The Japanese Literature Programme of the FCS, Universitas Gadjah Mada, once again proves its achievements. Akbar Rizqi Dhea Habibi, or Rizqi, achieved the 2nd place on the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia Shuuji Contest on April 6 2019.

Previously, Rizqi has already won several competitions in the same field. Yet, he noted that on this occasion, the competition was exceptionally competitive. “The previous Shuuji Contests I attended this time has more diverse participants from Javanese universities, and all of them wrote very beautifully. I was quite nervous and trembled a bit when I wrote.” said Rizqi.

Even though he only got the 2nd place, Rizqi successfully placed better than other contestants, who came from East Java to West Java. The 1st place went to a contestant from STBA YAPARI ABA, and the 3rd place went to a contestant from UPI.

This competition is a part of the annual Japanzuki Show, an annual event held by Himpunan Mahasiswa Bahasa Jepang (HIMABAJA) UPI, under the supervision of Departemen Pendidikan Bahasa Jepang UPI. This event is held in order for those interested in Japanese language and culture to be creative and exchange knowledge on Japanese culture and language.

Rizqi hopes to see more of his juniors interested in competitive Shuuji in the future.