On 20 July 2024, Mohamad Yusuf, Lektor III/d from the Department of Anthropology, carried out Community Service activities on UGM Campus with the title ‘Writing Public Opinions’. The output of this activity is an opinion entitled ‘Building Tourism for What and For Whom?’, which is disseminated through newspapers. This opinion criticises the tourism development paradigm that currently focuses more on fulfilling the interests of large capitalist groups, while basic human values are often ignored.

In his writing, Yusuf voiced his concern over the direction and goals of tourism development, which is considered increasingly distant from the needs of local communities and humanity. He emphasises the importance of an approach that is more equitable and oriented towards common welfare, not just the benefits of a few parties. It is hoped that this opinion piece will spark further discussion and reflection on a more inclusive and sustainable future for tourism.

‘Solidarity Indonesia for Palestine’ aims to provide up-to-date information on the situation in Gaza and Palestine in general, highlight the effects of war on women and children, and implement and expand cooperation with partners, such as Dompet Duafa DIY and Amna Care Fund. This activity was held on Thursday, 28 March 2024, at Musholla An-Najah, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The Executive Director of Amna Care Fund delivered the material in Arabic so a translator companion was needed, Dr Mahmudah, M.Hum.

The activities also included fundraising conducted conventionally and through transfers or QRIS, with the total funds collected reaching almost 5,000,000.00. The funds will be channelled to the Amna Care Fund through Dompet Duafa DIY to support the dispatch of medical teams to Gaza, especially for the treatment of women and children with permanent disabilities. The event was closed with a group photo session.

On Sunday, 21 July 2024, at 16.00 WIB, at the Jejak Imaji Community Secretariat, Banguntapan, Bantul, a literary community discussion was held. The discussion was held as one of the agendas to commemorate the decade-long journey of the Jejak Imaji community. The community has produced several poetry and short story writers who were published in many mass media and won a number of writing competitions. The celebration was held for approximately one week, from 20-28 July 2024 with a variety of agendas presenting 40 writers, artists, academics, culturalists, literacy activists, and musicians.

At the literary community discussion event, Saeful Anwar, a lecturer at the Indonesian Language and Literature Study Programme, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, said that there are three general trends of literary communities in Yogyakarta, namely those that offer celebrations of works, discussions to legitimise works, and relationships to expand the perspective of the work. For Anwar, Jejak Imaji is the third type of community, where members find space to collaborate together in entering the world of literature.

Yogyakarta, July 27, 2024 – Evi Idawati’s Literary House in Sedayu, Bantul, recently organized an intensive workshop entitled “Piwulang Sastra Menatah” which aimed to teach poetry writing skills to teenagers in Yogyakarta. This activity is aimed specifically at those aged between 17 and 21 years old.

The workshop officially opened on July 14, 2024, and on July 24, 2024, the training event entered its third agenda by presenting two renowned speakers in the field of literature, namely Hasta Indriyana, an accomplished poet, and Saeful Anwar, S.S., M.A., a poetry writer and lecturer at the Indonesian Language and Literature Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM.

In the session, Saeful Anwar shared valuable insights into the process of creating poetry. He explained that a poet’s perseverance often correlates with his ability to pay attention and absorb the things around him. Anwar emphasized the importance of originality in literary works, which he said are often inspired by the poet’s own social environment.

“Poetry is different from prose in terms of the limited number of words available, which makes poetry more honest because it has to be straight to the point without many additions,” Anwar said. He also introduced the 3T concept taught by Ki Hadjar Dewantara: titeni (observe), imitate and add. This concept aims to encourage workshop participants to be more critical in writing and add uniqueness to their poetry.

This activity received an enthusiastic response from the participants, who felt that they got a lot of inspiration and new techniques in writing poetry. With this workshop, it is hoped that more Yogyakarta teenagers will be able to explore and develop their literary talents through poetry.

The Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University really cares about preparing its graduates to face post-college life.  Prospective graduates have completed various kinds of upheavals during their college years. However, the real upheaval of life will come after they graduate. They will enter a new phase in life filled with greater challenges. Considering that the reality of life often does not match expectations, new graduates need to prepare themselves carefully and plan what steps they will take after graduating from college. For this purpose, Cultural Sciences designed a training program for prospective graduates and female graduates, with the aim of improving their personal qualities.

Rati Krisnawan is a successful entrepreneur who graduated from the Cultural Anthropology study program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM. Since becoming a student, Rati has made various achievements. Rati also received an award as the youngest and fastest cum laude graduate. Rati received various other awards, including: Inspirational Entrepreneur Woman of 2022; Award for Inspirational, Innovative, Visionary and Changemaker Women by WOMAN Magazine in 2023; . UGM Faculty of Cultural Sciences alumni award in 2023. Currently, Rati is developing various businesses in the field of Event Organizer and FnB. In her presentation, Rati shared valuable knowledge about how she started conservation. Rati told her fellow graduate candidates to explore deeper values ​​within themselves and never stop exploring their own abilities.