Yogyakarta, Thursday, November 28th, 2024. Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada through the Department of Archaeology UGM received a visit from Iwate University, Japan. The agenda of the visit is part of the exploration of cooperation plans between Iwate University and the UGM Department of Archaeology to discuss potential plans for educational visits next year at Gadjah Mada University, for Iwate University students. On this occasion, the Head of the UGM Department of Archaeology, Dr. Mahirta, MA, along with the Secretary of the Department, Drs. Musadad, M.Hum., and Archaeology UGM study programme lecturer, Dwi Pradnyawan, S.S., M.A., met with representatives from Iwate University, Anders Carlqvist, Associate Professor of Iwate University International Education Center and Hiroya Yaegashi from Chief Administrative Staff, Iwate University International Office, to discuss the possibility of giving lectures on archaeology to Iwate University students as part of the educational visit.

After the discussion session ended, the group of Iwate University and the UGM Department of Archaeology took a group photo. They were also invited to tour Mandala Majapahit, a small museum located inside the laboratory of Margono Building, to see a number of artifact replica collections available. From this exploration of cooperation, it is expected to improve the quality of education for the UGM Department of Archaeology and Iwate University, in supporting cooperation in the field of quality and sustainable education.

Yogyakarta, August 13, 2024 – The Faculty of Humanities of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) successfully held the inaugural lecture for new undergraduate students of the Class of 2024 with the theme “The Role of Humanities in the 21st Century”. The event was held on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, from 08.00 WIB to 11.00 WIB at Soegondo Building, UGM. Facing the number of participants reaching 700 people, this inaugural lecture was held offline at Soegondo Auditorium and online in various classes that had been determined. The division of rooms for this event was as follows:

– Soegondo Auditorium: Students of the Cultural Anthropology, Indonesian Language and Literature, and Tourism Study Programs.

– Soegondo Room 707: Students of the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture, French Language and Literature, and History programs.

– Soegondo Room 625+627: Students of Korean Language and Culture Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 521+522: Students of the English Literature Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 407+409: Students of the Arabic Literature Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 310: Students of Japanese Language and Culture Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 226+227: Students of the Archaeology Study Program.

The event was attended by Heads of Departments and Heads of Undergraduate Study Programs (S1) and guided by the moderator, Dr. Wulan Tri Astuti, S.S., M.A.. This event certainly presents excellent speakers: Prof. Dr. Fadlil Munawaar Manshur, M.S., Prof. Dr. Bambang Hudayana, M.A., Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M.Hum., and Prof. Dr. Hendrokumoro, M.Hum. The speakers gave in-depth presentations on the contribution and relevance of the humanities in the context of the 21st century, providing valuable insights for the new students to start their academic journey. With high enthusiasm and spirit, new students are expected to absorb knowledge and inspiration from this inaugural lecture to build useful knowledge in the field of humanities.

A series of archaeological activities in the Muarajambi Cultural Heritage Area in the form of archaeological excavation of the dried up canal body. This excavation was carried out in the Kedaton Temple Pond Sector on April 18-23, 2024.

The Cultural Preservation Center (BPK) V Jambi Province as the organizer of the activity invited the author to become an Archaeological Expert in charge of providing some considerations in the implementation of excavation and handling of findings. This activity also involved several staff from BPK V and the local community. Until this assignment was completed, excavation activities in the field were still being carried out.

The evaluation and preparation of the BPK Region X Technical POS was held on April 23-26, 2024 at the Solia Zigna Hotel, Surakarta. This activity is part of the 2024 work program of BPK Region X, which in the previous year had compiled POS Technical Activities for several types of main tasks and functions of the working groups within BPK Region X. Participants who attended were all staff from the BPK Region X office from each working group. The activity began with a presentation from a resource person related to the main task of the BPK (Cultural Preservation Center), namely the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Promotion Objects, especially the Protection aspect which includes Cultural Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Given that the Development and Utilization tasks are currently under the newly inaugurated MCB (Museum and Cultural Heritage) office. On this occasion, material was presented on aspects related to preservation activities in accordance with academic principles and rules according to the scientific field of archaeology. At the beginning of the presentation, the challenges of the field of archaeology in the future, especially those related to the preservation of cultural heritage, the parties who are stakeholders and have an interest in cultural heritage, were presented.

Changes in the scientific paradigm and also the condition of society also affect the scheme of involvement of stakeholders with an interest in cultural heritage. The development of research methods in the academic world needs to be conveyed to the participants in an effort to maintain the scientific spirit of each working group’s activities at the CPC. The presentation was closed with discussion and questions from the participants.

In order to provide greater insight and knowledge about Cultural Heritage in the Sleman Regency area, especially for the younger generation, on May 21, 2024 a visit to the Cultural Heritage object was held, namely the Wisma Kaliurang Building, Wisma Merapi Indah I Building and Sri Widodo Joglo Building. The participants of this activity were high school students in the Sleman Regency area totaling 15 people accompanied by several teachers. The purpose of this activity is to introduce cultural heritage from the type of building, especially from the aspect of the important value contained in it. The important value of cultural heritage is related to the importance of history, the importance of education, the importance of science, the importance of culture and the importance of strengthening national identity.

The buildings of Wisma Kaliurang, Wisma Merapi, and Joglo Sri Widodo have historical significance as buildings used in the historical momentum of the Indonesian independence struggle. The Wisma Kaliurang building was used as the location of the KTN (Three State Commission) meeting on January 13, 1948 in order to obtain recognition of the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia from the Dutch colonial occupation. The meeting was attended by representatives from three countries, namely Australia, America and Belgium. While from Indonesia, there were a number of national figures such as Soekarno, Mohammad Hatta, General Sudirman, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, Sutan Sjahrir and others. An important result of this meeting was the minutes decision which stated that the Republic of Indonesia retained full power over the area it controlled.

This KTN meeting actually followed up on the Renville Agreement, which was disrupted by the Second Dutch Military Aggression which seized Yogyakarta as the capital of the Republic of Indonesia at that time. Wisma Merapi Indah I, located not far from Wisma Kaliurang, is a building that was once used as a place to stay by national figures when attending the KTN meeting, along with the Ngeksigondo Pesanggrahan complex which is also located not far from Wisma Kaliurang.

It is hoped that with this activity, the cultivation of cultural heritage preservation values among the younger generation, especially students in the Sleman Regency area, can provide provisions in the future for the community to be able to participate more in preserving heritage in the form of tangible cultural heritage that has noble values that must be preserved.