On February 25, the American Studies Students and Alumni Association (ASSAA) held a weekly online discussion to discuss this year’s Charity Act event. Every year, ASSAA holds Charity Act activities as one of the realizations of the Tridharma of Higher Education, namely in the field of Community Service by providing services to the community by utilizing the knowledge and skills gained during study.

In the last 2 editions, Charity Act activities have focused on environmental awareness and cultural development. In the ASSAA 2023 Charity Act entitled “Resilience of the Pandowoharjo Community through the Development of Culturally Based Integrated Tourism Villages”, in this activity, students focus on providing an overview and education to the Pandowoharjo community regarding insights and practical guidance in overcoming the challenges of developing environmental and cultural-based tourism villages in the era of globalization. In this activity, the Charity Act Team provides exposure and practical guidance related to aspects of Personal Branding in marketing tourist villages digitally, aspects of Social Media Utilization in creating content related to the theme of natural tourist villages, as well as aspects of Multi-Language Access in translating documents as facilities and marketing tools for tourist villages. Then proceed with the translation activity of the Pandowoharjo tourist village brochure document which is used as a marketing tool.

In the ASSA Charity Act 2022 entitled “Eco-Pesantren”: Instilling a Critical Mindset and Awareness of the 3Rs (Recycle, Reduce and Reuse) in Santri Pondok Pesantren Modern Tazakka. Aims to increase the awareness of santri of a healthy or environmentally friendly environment. This activity was carried out through a series of activities that focused on instilling a critical mindset and awareness of the importance of knowledge about the 3Rs: Recycle, Reduce and Reuse. The students are trained to solve real environmental and waste problems such as; the closure of the TPU because the waste collected has exceeded capacity. The results of the discussion, which are solutions to the problem, are then made into a mind-map and the activity participants present the solution ideas from each group in front of other activity participants.

This Charity Act activity is supposed to not only contribute the knowledge possessed by Master of American Studies students, but also make people aware of the importance of environmental and cultural awareness. It is hoped that this year’s Charity Act activities can be held successfully as before, and provide many benefits to the wider community.

Hari Setyawan, who took the Humanities Sciences Study Program (Archaeology doctoral program), conducted an Open Doctoral Promotion Examination on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at 10.00 WIB in the Multimedia Room on the Second Floor of the R.M. Margono Djojohadikusumo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM. The Team of Examiners entered the room followed by Promovenda / Promovendus, Chair of the Examination Team Prof. Dr. Heddy Shry Ahimsa-Putra, M.A., M.Phil. opened the meeting to hold the Open Examination. The Examination Team consists of: Dr. Niken Wirasanti, M.Si. (Promoter), Dr. Mimi Savitri, M.A. (Co-Promoter), Prof. Dr. Purnomo, M.S. (Faculty of Biology UGM), Dr. Tjahjono Prasodjo, M.A., and Prof. Dr. Timbul Haryono, M.Sc.

Mr. Hari Setyawan, S.S., M.T. on the occasion presented his dissertation entitled “Pemaknaan Tumbuhan pada Relief Karmawibhangga Candi Borobudur: Perspektif Semiotika Peirce”. Narrative reliefs at Borobudur Temple are archaeological data that can be used, among others, as data for reconstructing the environment of Ancient Java. Hisresearch discusses the law of karma and the depiction of plants in narrative reliefs to be identified by species, interpreted based on inscription sources and relevant literary texts to find out their meaning using Charles Sanders Peirce Semiotics. The novelty in the research is to get an explanation of how the karma scene is depicted on the Karmawibhangga relief and why the plants depicted are very varied in species.

After the Team of Examiners considered the results of the examination, the Team of Examiners stated that the dissertation of Mr. Hari Setyawan PASSED the doctoral program at the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Gadjah Mada with the title Cum Laude / Praise. This is also based on the consideration of lecture results, dissertation grades, and study period. Dr. Hari Setyawan, S.S., M.T. is the 6216th doctor to pass the exam at Universitas Gadjah Mada, the 443rd doctor to pass the exam at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, the 403rd doctor to pass the exam in the Humanities Sciences Study Program, and the 21st doctor in Archaeology. Congratulations and success to all new doctors. Hopefully the knowledge will be more useful!

Praise to God Almighty, for His blessings and grace we gathered on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at the Soegondo Auditorium on the 7th floor of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM in good health and happiness, in the context of “Soft Skill Training for Undergraduate Graduation Candidates of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences” Universitas Gadjah Mada, Period III of the 2023/2024 Academic Year. Ferdeo, was the student in charge of guiding the softskill training that afternoon. To start the event, the audience listened to remarks delivered by the Head of the Community Service and Alumni Unit, Dr. Sajarwa, M.Hum. Next, there was also an announcement from the Coordinator of Academic and Student Affairs, Mr. Yusuf Sulistiyo, S.Pi., M.M. Next was the announcement made by the Career Development Center Team, which on this occasion was represented by Mr. Dama Qoriy Arjanto, S.S., M.Sc.

Moving on to the next agenda, the core agenda on that day, namely the debriefing session for undergraduate graduation candidates of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Period III of the 2023/2024 Academic Year. In this session, the event was guided by a moderator, namely Dr. phil. Ramada Akmal, S.S., M.A., who is a lecturer at the Indonesian Language and Literature Study Program. The speaker who filled the session was Mr. Ari Bagus Panuntun, S.S., M.A., who is the owner and founder of the contemporary bookstore “Warung Sastra”, who is also a lecturer in the French Language and Literature Study Program. The session went smoothly and it is hoped that the knowledge that has been shared can be a blessing and useful for all prospective graduates. Amen. Before closing, the event was continued with socialization delivered by the team from Teleperformance.