Yogyakarta, 13/2/25 – The Department of History, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada has successfully held a public lecture entitled “Beyond the Point of No Return: The Re-Emergence of Indonesian Debates and Concepts of the Return of Cultural Objects” on Thursday, February 13, 2025 at Soegondo’s Auditorium Building.

The public lecture was opened with remarks from the Head of the UGM Department of History, Dr. Abdul Wahid, who emphasized the importance of academic studies in the context of repatriation. The large number of Indonesian artifacts brought to the Netherlands was often accompanied by coercion. This is evidenced by the strengthening of momentum in the post-1949 era, especially in the 1970s, centered on the Dutch perspective, which tended to marginalize Indonesian voices on the issue.

Documentation of UGM Department of History, Muhammad Faisal Adnan

The session featured Dr. Sadiah Boonstra, a historian and curator from CultureLab Consultancy who is also an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She said that this public lecture was part of her repatriation research program in Indonesia. The research aims to examine more deeply the issue of returning cultural objects that historically originated from Indonesia, but are now in museums in the Netherlands.

In her lecture, Dr. Sadiah Boonstra highlighted the latest developments regarding the return of Indonesian artifacts, including the steps taken by the Royal Family of the Netherlands in returning a number of historical items to Indonesia. However, she also explained that museum collections in the Netherlands cannot be arbitrarily transferred, but must first be offered to other public institutions before being returned to their country of origin.

“The repatriation process is not simple. There are various legal and procedural challenges that must be met, especially since each country has its own regulations when it comes to the transfer of museum collections,” said Dr. Sadiah Boonstra.

Along with the increasing awareness of the importance of returning historical artifacts to Indonesia, this public lecture is expected to be a spark for academics and stakeholders to continue fighting for Indonesia’s rights to its cultural objects scattered in various parts of the world.

[Public Relation of Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Muhammad Ebid El Hakim]

Yogyakarta, 14/2/25 – In order to assist exchange students regarding their study plans at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, the Public Relations and Cooperation Unit together with the Academic Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada held a Coordination Meeting for Exchange Student Study Plans in the Multimedia Room of the Margono Building on Friday, February 14, 2025 which was attended by Pertukaran Mahasiswa Merdeka Participants of the FIB Dean Consortium throughout Indonesia and Abroad.

This activity began with remarks from the Deputy Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Nur Saktiningrum, S.S., M.Hum. who conveyed warm greetings to the students present and also ensured that each student no longer had obstacles to their study plans at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada in this semester. In addition, Mrs. Ningrum also conveyed the various activities that can be participated in by exchange students, such as traditional dance, gamelan, batik, and many more which are coordinated in the Semi-Autonomous Student Organizations of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada.

After discussing student activities, the session continued with a presentation on course selection procedures by the Academic Team of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The session was conducted with the involvement of one of the student exchange participants from Japan, Takeru Homma, who was willing to volunteer in the practice of course selection.

In addition to listening to the explanation from the Academic Team of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, all students who attended also seemed enthusiastic to build networks among each other with small talk about their origin and views on UGM and Yogyakarta. Hopefully, the Coordination Meeting of the Exchange Student Study Plan will be a positive step in strengthening the relationship between students and faculty, as well as opening opportunities for them to get to know more about the culture and student activities at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada.

[Public Relation of Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Muhammad Ebid El Hakim]

Yogyakarta, 8/2/2025 –The spirit of togetherness and sportsmanship colored the badminton tournament held by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at the Lembah Sports Building of Universitas Gadjah Mada. The event, which is part of the Faculty’s 79th Anniversary celebration series, was lively with active participation from the entire academic community.

The organization of this tournament is not only held to compete, but also a moment to strengthen the relationship between the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM Academic Community. High enthusiasm can be seen from the participation of six teams competing, namely the Red Team, White Team, Yellow Team, Blue Team, Green Team, and Orange Team, each of which fielded six players consisting of several parties, namely men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

Since morning, the area of the Lembah Sports Building of Universitas Gadjah Mada has been filled with participants and supporters from various teams. Before the match began, the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. Setiadi, S.Sos., M.Si., gave a warm welcome to all academicians present. The activity continued by warming up and following the drawing procession to determine the first ball. The cheers and applause of the audience echoed in the match area, creating an atmosphere full of enthusiasm and kinship.

Entering the final, the match between Team Blue and Team White was fierce for first place. Both teams played their best, entertaining the audience with spectacular actions on the court. After a thrilling match, the Blue Team finally won the title by winning the first, second, and third men’s doubles matches.

The tournament was closed with a group photo between the Blue Team, White Team, and Yellow Team who won the first, second, and third place. The badminton tournament organized by FIB UGM is proof that sports can be an effective medium to build togetherness and develop the potential of the academic community outside the academic field.

[Public Relation of Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Muhammad Ebid El Hakim]

Malaysia, 7/12/2024 – Two students of the Arabic literature study program successfully presented their essays related to women’s empowerment in the Asean Muslimah Exposure 2024 (AME 2024) event in Malaysia. The program organized by the Qurthubiyah Institute organization was held from December 6 to 8, 2024. As an organization, Qurthubiyah Institute aims to be a forum for empowering Muslim women with character, knowledge, and skilled personality by internalizing Islamic values in life. Thus, the Asean Muslimah Exposure program is designed to increase Indonesian Muslimah’s understanding of social issues through hands-on learning experiences in Asean countries.

In the AME 2024 program, there are three main activities held on Saturday, December 7, 2024. The three activities are Essay Presentation, Panel Discussion, and Campus Tour which took place at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) and University Malaya (UM). Essay Presentation and Panel Discussion activities held at IIUM were not only attended by AME 2024 participants, but also attended by IIUM students who are members of the Islamic Studies Forum Indonesia (ISFI) organization.

In this activity, there were several delegates who presented their papers, and two of them were students of the Arabic Literature Study Program, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The first student was Vanisa Putri Andarista with her essay entitled The Trend of Delaying Marriage “Waithood” In Indonesian Women and How Islam Views It. The essay was awarded The Best Analytical Perspective. While the second student, Ragil Samas Khofifatunnur conveyed ideas in his essay entitled The relevance of “Risalah Perempuan Berkemajuan” to Increasing The Inclusiveness of Women’s Empowerment In Village, and won The Best Delegates Paper award.

From the series of AME 2024 activities, students not only gain experience in making and presenting their essays, but also gain abundant knowledge through the discussions that have been held. In addition, students are also more familiar with the dynamics of lectures in Malaysia, the socio-cultural conditions of the local community, and how Islamic values are implemented there. With the many experiences and insights that have been gained, students are expected to play an active role in disseminating these insights so that the benefits are received by more people, as is the goal of the Qurthubiyah Institute.

[Public Relations of Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, Sandya Kirani]

A total of six students of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences underwent a Certified Cultural Internship program placed at the Balai Pelestarian Kebudayaan region X (Yogyakarta – Central Java), this internship is part of the Certified Internship and Independent Study activities. They came from several study programs namely Cultural Anthropology (Amandha Eva, Gemma Padira, Via Vitarina, and Widya Pandega), History (Duhita Prananing Tyasayu), and Arabic Literature (Salma Shidqiyah). The six students were divided into two fields, namely Assistant Cultural Heritage Recorder and Assistant Recorder of Cultural Promotion Objects. For four months from September to December 2024, they had the opportunity to expand their knowledge related to cultural heritage preservation, starting from multi tagging analysis, documentation, the process of determining cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage, data collection, to interviews.

Documentation of internship students while exploring Ijo Temple

Not limited to data collection, interns also have the opportunity to participate in the process of the Cultural Heritage Expert Team hearing and play a direct role in the formation of Regional Cultural Thoughts (PPKD). Before collecting data directly in the field, they were introduced to the Directorate General of Culture and its duties and functions, they also received briefings related to the types and legal protection of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Promotion Objects,

As a final project, they translated the cultural heritage into a magazine entitled Tracing the Charm of Ijo Temple: Civilization Above the Clouds, a “Cultify” podcast inviting KI Gondo Suharno, and flashcards containing several Objects of Cultural Advancement as learning media for students in kindergarten. In addition, they also worked on individual assignments in the form of scientific papers on critical reviews of various aspects of cultural heritage.

[Public Relation of Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Sandya Kirani]