Yogyakarta, November 28, 2025 – The Department of Anthropology at UGM held a Visiting Lecture titled Framing Child Marriage: Film, Visual Ethnography, and the Ethics of Representation. The event featured guest speaker Nur Wucha Wulan Dari, commonly known as Wucha, a film director and graduate of the Master’s Program in Anthropology. The session was opened by Dr. Sita Hidayah, who emphasized that final academic projects have the potential to become visual or non-textual representations of anthropological research presented in a more engaging format.

During the film screening session, Wucha showcased two of her works: Laila and Pasukan Gagal Tobat. Both films explore the issue of child marriage. Laila tells the story of a 15-year-old girl in East Kalimantan who escapes an arranged marriage by fleeing on a boat, while Pasukan Gagal Tobat is an ethnographic film about a group of teenagers who view child marriage as a common and accepted practice in their village.

In the discussion session moderated by Muhammad Ade Putra, Wucha shared her research methods and creative process behind the films. While working in the field, she often faced dilemmas, especially during the production of Pasukan Gagal Tobat, when she encountered extreme weather conditions and witnessed firsthand the social changes occurring within the community. The sensitive issue of child marriage in both films often placed her in challenging ethical positions, leading her and her team to develop a risk matrix. She also frequently conducted regular Focus Group Discussions as part of her approach to building trust with the subjects.

Summarizing the discussion, the moderator emphasized that the camera can serve as a medium for recording field notes, a point of reference, and a space for negotiating positions between the researcher and their subjects.

Author: Novilatul Ananda Ramadhani

On Friday (November 21, 2025), Prof. Dr. Pujo Semedi served as a panel discussant in the session “Monsters, Devils, and Survival: The Persistence of Plantations and People in the Scholarship of Pujo Semedi” at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) in New Orleans, LA, supported by FULLBRIGHT funding through the Scholar in Residence Grant at the University of Colorado Boulder for Fall 2025. The panel was inspired by Pujo’s academic work on plantations, which investigates how colonial hegemony in its efforts to build capital accumulation by sacrificing human sociality has instead resulted in the loss of assets and weakened capacities for survival. In his presentation, Pujo invited participants to explore how non-human entities such as “ghosts” influence social and material relations within plantation environments.

Through ethnographic research in Kalimantan’s palm oil plantations, Java’s tea plantations, and Germany’s vineyards, Pujo argues that “ghosts” are understood as empirical and material realities by plantation communities. Although spiritual beings are not bound by physical laws or fixed forms, belief in them becomes a productive lens for ethical and emic understanding. Positioned within a strong postcolonial perspective, Pujo’s ideas are seen as important for advancing research on extraction and imperial accumulation in postcolonial nations. The panel, featuring Carla Jones and five PhD students from the University of Colorado Boulder, embodied efforts to decolonize knowledge, highlighting Pujo Semedi’s role in fostering cross-cultural academic collaboration.

Author: Penulis: Okky Chandra Baskoro

Yogyakarta, November 14th, 2025 –  The Ethnography of Maluku and Nusa Tenggara class held by the Department of Anthropology featured a guest lecturer. Danishwara Nathaniel (Mas Dan) is a PhD candidate from the Geneva Graduate Institute, currently doing research on Ternate, Northern Maluku. During the first session of the class, Mas Dan presented part of his research, titled Visual Activism and Maritime Identity in Indonesia’s Extraction Frontier. In this research, Mas Dan highlights the importance of visual media for the activist movement that is going on in Maluku, which historically has always been an important frontier for natural resources. During the colonial era, the resources being fought over were mainly spices; nowadays, minerals and mines are the resources being extracted from Northern Maluku. Mas Dan explained that Ternate is a sacrifice zone: a specific area that is being ‘sacrificed’ to better the lives of people in other parts of the world. In this context, Maluku’s nature is being destroyed by nickel mines, used for lithium batteries to power electrical vehicles.

Mas Dan further explains the importance of visual and digital media to help put the situation in Northern Maluku on a spotlight. In the past, maps were the visual media being used by colonial forces to plan the conquest of Ternate. This topdown, unspecified view makes the location seem static and controllable, void of any living elements that have their own agencies. Now, visual media helps the people of Ternate to voice their resentment towards the extraction project that they are facing. News and articles are being published all throughout the internet by international journalists and NGOs, spreading awareness about the impacts of green energy development. Mas Dan also mentions that visual and digital media can also be used to dampen the work that the activists have put in. This is mainly done by the government or stakeholders in the mining industry, through the launching of counter-narratives and censorship of the news.

In the second session of the class, Mas Dan brought in his friend as well as his interlocutor (through Zoom Meetings) to share more about the Ternate situation to the class. Adlun Fiqri is an activist from Halmahera who has been vocal in the struggle against the mining industry going on in his hometown. Mas Adlun is also a bachelor of anthropology from Universitas Airlangga, and even did an exchange semester here in UGM. Mas Adlun shared his experience of documenting and actively fighting the mining industry, even being captured a couple of times. He also explains the difference that the mines have brought to local communities: people are becoming more wary and less friendly, after facing countless encounters with the generally aggressive agents from the mines. The main point that is being projected through this class by Mas Dan and Mas Adlun is that Northern Maluku is currently a victim of the growing green energy movement. Visual and digital media can serve as loudspeakers to the world that Northern Maluku is not okay, and spread the word about the impacts of industries on local communities.

Author: Amadeus Abhirama Paramanindita

Yogyakarta, 15 October 2025 — After receiving its accreditation rating from SINTA earlier this year, Lembaran Antropologi, a journal managed by the Department of Anthropology at UGM, has once again achieved a new milestone. It was awarded the title of Winner of the Award for Governance of Nationally Accredited and Scopus-Indexed Scientific Journals, Period I of 2025 by the Directorate of Research. The announcement was delivered through Decree No. 12517/UN1.P2/Dit-Lit/PJ.00.02/2025, in which Lembaran Antropologi ranked 9th out of 12 journals that successfully passed the selection.

Lembaran Antropologi aims to promote academic discourse and anthropological analysis in the study of human relations, culture, and society across the Global North and South. The journal publishes two issues each year: Issue 1 (January–June) and Issue 2 (July–December). In its second issue, the journal releases a special edition, a thematic issue often developed in collaboration with experienced researchers in relevant fields. Submissions are open and free of charge. We warmly welcome contributors to share their best work!

Penulis: Penulis: Novilatul Ananda Ramadhani

Banjarmasin, October 5, 2025 — Three students from the Arabic Literature Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB), Universitas Gadjah Mada, proudly represented UGM as delegates in the 18th National University Qur’an Recitation Competition (MTQMN XVIII), held at Lambung Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

The delegates were Muhammad Candra Solihin (Arabic Literature, Class of 2023, Contemporary Calligraphy Male category), Pandhita Hapsari (Arabic Literature, Class of 2023, Qur’anic Debate in Arabic), and Hasifa Zara (Arabic Literature, Class of 2024, Qur’anic Debate in Arabic). In addition, Muhammad Shofyyulloh (Cultural Anthropology 2023) as an official, also accompanied the group from UGM.

Before advancing to the national stage, the three students had to undergo a series of rigorous selection processes. These included internal selection at UGM, followed by an online pre-national selection involving hundreds of students from various universities across Indonesia, before finally being chosen as UGM’s official representatives.

The 18th MTQMN brought together around 1,500 students from universities throughout Indonesia, with the competition running over five days. The event featured an opening ceremony, preliminary rounds, final rounds, and a closing ceremony.

This prestigious competition aims to strengthen students’ Qur’anic character, nurturing a generation with noble character, academic excellence, and the ability to contribute to the nation.

UGM provided full support for its delegates, including regular training, academic guidance, and full facilitation of competition needs. Such support reflects the university’s commitment to fostering achievements while upholding UGM’s reputation on the national stage.

The participation of Arabic Literature students in categories such as Qur’anic debate in Arabic highlights the strong relevance between academic learning and competition. It not only sharpens language mastery but also broadens networks and strengthens the tradition of Islamic scholarship on campus.

[Public Relations of FIB UGM, Candra Solihin]