The research results of the Pakpak Bharat survey and excavation team through its important heritage of mejan (an ancient relic) have been disseminated to all stakeholders in Pakpak Bharat Regency, North Sumatra, on Monday, 18 December 2023 in Salak, Pakpak Bharat, North Sumatra. Mejan is an ancestral heritage of Pakpak Bharat in the form of statues that are special and unique because they are not found in other regions and therefore deserve to be a proud identity of the Pakpak Bharat community.

The research team coordinator, Dr Mimi Savitri, M.A. outlined the importance of knowledge of the past life of the Pakpak Bharat community related to the existence of mejan. According to her, mejan is a marker, centre, or source of Pakpak people’s life in the past, because the social, economic, cultural, ritual, and gender equality of Pakpak Bharat’s ancestors is known from the remaining mejan that exist up to this moment. One important thing in studying the lives of Pakpak Bharat’s ancestors through mejan is the fact that their ancestor always embracing peace as the upmost value. Peace is one of the most crucial factor on successful development of a nation, which happened to be the goal in SDG’S 16.

Regional Secretary of Pakpak Bharat, Jalan Berutu, S.Pd. M.M. who was present representing the Regent expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the Research Team from the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM, because this collaboration is seen as a major step in the preservation of Pakpak Bharat Cultural Heritage. The cooperation between the two parties is an effort to achieve SDG’s 17 in the form of partnership to achieve goals. He also stated that this dissemination is important for determining the next development strategy of Pakpak Bharat in order to improve people’s welfare. This is in accordance with SDG’s 1 related to life without poverty and SDG’s 12 in the form of efforts to improve the quality of the environment in order to support the implementation of Development.

The National Student Scientific Week (PIMNAS) is an annual national scientific competition organised by the National Achievement Centre (Pusat Prestasi Nasional). In the 36th PIMNAS event held at Padjadjaran University on Thursday (30/11/2023), the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Student Team won double gold and silver medals. The team was led by Ilham Nur Rahman (Agricultural Industrial Technology) with members Abdila (History), Ilham Andriyanto (Cultural Anthropology), Hanieke Syahla (Cultural Anthropology), and Mia Fadilah (Biology). The team was mentored by Dr Aprillia Firmonasari, S.S., M.Hum., DEA.

This medal was won from their research entitled “Ethnobotanical Index of Rejang Tribe: Shifting, Inheritance, and Conservation Strategy of Local Knowledge Towards Food Security in Indonesia”. In the research, the team examined the shift and process of inheritance of knowledge of cultivation and utilisation of food plants in the Rejang Tribe, and used it as a basis for preparing a policy framework for food security. With an interdisciplinary research concept, the team combined the quantitative approach of knowledge index to detect knowledge shifts and ethnography to explore knowledge inheritance patterns.

On Monday, 27 November 2023, the Tourism Study Programme of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada (Tourism Study Programme FIB UGM) received a guest visit from Management and Science University Malaysia (MSU). This visit is part of the University Visit activity which is held with the main purpose of conducting a comparative study between the Tourism Study Programmes of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM and MSU Malaysia.

The forum began with a warm welcome from Wiwik Sushartami, a representative of the UGM Tourism study programme, which was then followed by remarks from Nur Amirah, who represented MSU as a substitute for the dean. The first session of the schedule started with a brief presentation on the profile of Management and Science University (MSU). In this session, Mrs Nur Amirah gave a comprehensive overview of MSU (what is MSU, how is their remark in Malaysian education etc). Furthermore, the forum continued with art performances (dancing and singing) from MSU students. This art performance’s purpose entirely covers the richness of Malaysian culture.The next session from MSU was followed by an in-depth presentation on Malaysian culture delivered by their students.

After that, the Tourism Study Programme of FIB UGM introduced its study programme, including the profiles of several teaching staff who play a role in the formation of the next generation in the field of tourism. Interesting information was also delivered through presentations about Pancoh Tourism Village and Jogja Philosophical Axis by Tourism Study Programme students.

The QnA session was the highlight of the interaction between the students of Tourism Study Programme of FIB UGM and MSU. In this session, there were a lot of interesting questions asked by both Tourism study programme students and MSU students. Both sides showed great interest in each other’s culture. In closing, the University Visit ended with a group photo session and a short campus tour, giving a positive final impression and strengthening the relationship between educational institutions. This event not only opened up space for academic discussions but also enriched cross-cultural experiences for all participants.

The Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage is a triennial scientific meeting that was originally organised in Manila, Philippines by the Asian Academy for Heritage Management. The 2023 Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage will be held in Gwangju, South Korea, which is the 5th conference since it was first held in 2011. Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage 2023 with the theme “The Ocean Decade Challenges and the Maritime Cultural Heritage of Asia -Pacific” has a discussion panel session related to hot issues regarding the study of maritime heritage and underwater archaeology within the Asia-Pacific.

At this year’s conference, there were 26 panel sessions with researchers, academics and students from 40 countries with 300 participants presenting their research in maritime studies and underwater archaeological heritage in the Asia-Pacific region. Not only presenting, the researchers also published their research in the conference proceedings. In participating in the Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage 2023, a Master student of the Department of Archaeology (Muslim Dimas Khoiru Dhony) was awarded as The Best Student Paper with a paper entitled Underwater Archaeological Remains in Matano Lake, South of Sulawesi, Indonesia: Evidence of Iron Age Civilisation in session 15 on The Archaeology of Submerged Landscapes and Inland Waters. The paper is the result of research conducted by the National Archaeological Research Centre (now BRIN) for 6 years in collaboration with researchers who focus on each field to examine the development of the Iron Age in Lake Matano. The activity is also an effort to carry out Sustainable Development Programs (SDGs) such as SDG 4 (Quality Education) Culture, SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) Culture, SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) Cultural Heritage, and Community and Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Department of Anthropology, Gadjah Mada University is again holding a Meniti Karir talk show entitled “Anthropology in Banking Economics”. This event will be held on Friday, November 10 2023 at the Multimedia Room, Fl. 2 Gd Margono, FIB, UGM. This event is open to Cultural Anthropology Students to provide students with insight into the various careers they can choose after graduating from college.

With the theme of Banking Economics, the Anthropology Department presented Reza Rachmadianto as Vice President of Special Asset Management PT. Bank Mandiri as a speaker at this event. Reza is also an alumnus of UGM Anthropology. Dr. Atik Triratnawati a lecturer in Anthropology at UGM was the trigger for this discussion.

This event began with a presentation session by Reza and continued with a question and answer session. In the final session of this event, Reza gave gifts in the form of electronic money from Livin by Mandiri to the 10 best quiz answerers. Then it closed with a group photo. We hope that this event can be useful for anthropology students in building their future careers.

Photo credit: Bonifacius Edo