Yogyakarta, 19-21 Mei 2025 —Indonesia is widely recognized as an archipelagic country. According to the Geospatial Information Agency, by 2024, the number of islands in Indonesia had reached 17,360, varying in size, location, socio-cultural systems, and natural as well as human resource potential. As territorial units, these islands are both separated and united by the sea—whose area is even larger than the landmass itself. This fact illustrates that the tendency toward fragmentation may be stronger than that of unity. As a unitary state, Indonesia exists within a constant tension between sameness and diversity, unity and potential disintegration. Therefore, the state must pay serious attention to its islands. It is for this reason that the national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), continues to be emphasized by the government through various educational institutions and civic doctrinal efforts.

In response to the urgent need to address Indonesia’s existence as an archipelagic state with complex island-related issues, the Doctoral Program in Humanities at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, opened the year 2025 with an international lecture series. The program invited three internationally recognized scholars in island studies to teach and deliver lectures as part of a comprehensive event entitled Critical Island Studies Summer School, themed “The Land, The Sea, and The State.” The invited scholars included Maria Luisa Torres Reyes, a full professor and Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila; Alex Taek-Gwang Lee, professor of philosophy and cultural studies and founding director of the Centre for Technology in Humanities at Kyung Hee University, South Korea; and Faruk, professor at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM, specializing in literary sociology with a focus on cultural and island studies. The event took place from May 19 to 21, 2025, in Room 709, Soegondo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM.

On the first day, the program commenced with an introductory presentation on Critical Island Studies (CIS) by Prof. Maria Luisa Torres Reyes and Prof. Alex Taek-Gwang Lee. Prof. Reyes—affectionately called “Bu Lulu” during her stay in Indonesia—explained that Critical Island Studies was established in 2019 at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines. Its core focus is to observe and critique island-related studies, particularly in the Asian region.

On the second and third days, the program continued with lecture sessions from four keynote speakers. On Day 2, Prof. Reyes presented a lecture titled “The Sama Bajau: The Nomadic Space/Place Between ‘Laut’ and ‘Pulo’,” followed by Prof. Faruk’s presentation entitled “The Sea, Nomad, and Capitalist.” On the final day, Prof. Toshiya presented an abstract titled “What is the Speculative and Archipelagic Turn in the Recent Tonality of Human Sciences?” which was then followed by the final lecture delivered by Prof. Alex titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Ecological Catastrophe.”

Guided by a moderator, the event did not merely consist of lectures but also featured engaging discussions with the participants. The entire Critical Island Studies (CIS) Summer School concluded with closing remarks by Prof. Dr. Wening Udasmoro, S.S., M.Hum., DEA, Vice Rector for Education and Teaching at Universitas Gadjah Mada.

[Doctoral Program in Humanities]

Yogyakarta, 12/5/2025 –The Faculty of Cultural Sciences at Universitas Gadjah Mada (FIB UGM) proudly celebrates a remarkable international achievement. Prof. Dr. Wening Udasmoro, S.S., M.Hum., DEA., who currently serves as UGM’s Vice-Rector for Education and Teaching, has been honored with the prestigious Inclusive Global Engagement Award from Universitas 21 (U21). This award recognizes her outstanding commitment to advancing inclusive and global education, particularly in the areas of literature, gender studies, and cultural discourse.

Universitas 21 is a global network comprising leading research-intensive universities across six continents. The Inclusive Global Engagement Award is part of the U21 Awards program, given to individuals or teams who have made significant contributions to promoting global inclusion in higher education. Recipients are selected based on their alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities), as well as their exceptional international impact beyond their formal roles.

As a scholar, Prof. Wening is widely known for her dedication to gender equality and inclusive practices in academia. She has played a crucial role in building cultural and academic bridges between Indonesia and other countries, particularly France. Her expertise in literature, identity studies, and postcolonial theory has made her contributions impactful not only nationally but also on the global stage. She frequently serves as a voice for women academics from developing countries in international forums.

This award not only marks a personal milestone for Prof. Wening but also reflects UGM’s strong commitment to promoting diversity and equity at the global level. As one of Indonesia’s leading universities, UGM takes great pride in seeing its faculty recognized internationally for their work and values.

Congratulations to Prof. Wening Udasmoro for this outstanding achievement. May her recognition continue to inspire the academic community at FIB UGM to foster inclusive and just education for all.

[Humas FIB UGM, Muhammad Ebid El Hakim]

Yogyakarta, 16/4/25 — The Doctoral Promotion Open Examination of Dr. Ronidin was held on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The session took place in the Multimedia Room, 2nd Floor of the Margono Building, at 10.00 AM (WIB). This academic agenda marked the culmination of his doctoral journey in the Humanities Study Program at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM.

In this open examination, Dr. Ronidin defended his dissertation entitled “The Expression of Minangkabau Tabedo in Novels by Minangkabau Authors Post-PRRI to the First Half of the New Order: A Genetic Structuralism Study.” The examination was supervised by Dr. Sudibyo, M.Hum. as Promoter, and Dr. Novi Siti Kussuji Indrastuti, M.Hum. as Co-Promoter, and chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, Prof. Dr. Setiadi, M.Si.

This dissertation delves deeply into how the historical events of the PRRI (Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia) and the political transition during the early New Order period shaped cultural expressions and worldviews of Minangkabau authors through the medium of novels. Utilizing Lucien Goldmann’s genetic structuralism approach, reinforced by Lotman’s narrative theory, this research demonstrates how the Minangkabau tabedo worldview—characterized by difficult and dilemmatic social conditions—is reflected in literary texts.

The study examines five novels by Minangkabau authors: Dari Puncak Bukit Talang by Soewardi Idris, Panggilan Tanah Kelahiran by Dt. B. Nurdin Jacub, Saraswati Si Gadis dalam Sunyi by A.A. Navis, Warisan by Chairul Harun, and Bako by Darman Moenir. These novels depict the realities of Minangkabau society post-PRRI, amidst state hegemony and the shifting of traditional values, such as the role of the maternal uncle in the matrilineal system, the role of religion, and the relationship between the village and the diaspora.

Dr. Ronidin emphasizes that the Minangkabau tabedo phenomenon emerges as a representation of the tension between traditional values eroded by political realities and modernity introduced from external influences. In these novels, complex social realities are metaphorically portrayed through characters and narrative relationships, structurally reflecting the sociological conditions of Minangkabau society during that era.

This open examination not only affirms Dr. Ronidin’s intellectual capacity as an academic but also contributes significantly to Indonesian literary studies, particularly in understanding literature as a mirror of a society’s socio-political dynamics.

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

The Women’s Crisis Center is a place for complaints of various cases of violence experienced by women. So far, public attention has centered on the development of legal cases, and places the victim as the sole subject who experiences the effects of trauma. In fact, the traumatic effect spreads to other actors who listen and fight for the case. On the occasion of the Caring for the Victim, Caring for the Self seminar (27/08/2024), the Anthropology Department of the Faculty of Arts UGM invited Mona Elisa Behnke to share the results of her months of research with the assistants at one of the Women’s Crisis Centers in Java, especially Yogyakarta.

Mona Behnke is a doctoral candidate in Social and Cultural Anthropology at Free University Berlin, Germany. Her Master’s thesis was on hyperreality, state rhetoric and collective memory in contemporary Indonesia, and combined her interest in psychological and visual anthropology with a philosophical approach. After graduation, Mona worked for some time as a business anthropologist in the field of user experience and the organization of work structures. In her PhD project, she focused on the emotional labor of social assistance workers in a women’s crisis center in Java, Indonesia, touching on issues of emotion, gender, and conflict management.

Working in the humanitarian field has the consequence of great challenges, not only in terms of legal assistance skills, but also the skills that must be possessed to work in the field. Basically, gender itself is labor, where the articulation of actions, behaviors and performance are socially constructed in harmony. Women are considered more flexible in absorbing emotions and navigating concerns. Being an advocate for cases of violence against children and women makes them have to be able to navigate themselves technically and emotionally. Caring is the main asset that must be possessed by the assistants. Mona’s research tries to answer how care is practiced in a neutral environment through emotional labor from psychological and legal assistants.

Plunging as a companion shows that they consciously decide to enter a non-profit institution ready to experience institutionalization in three fundamental aspects, namely emotional labor, order of feelings, and emotion repertoires. ‘Emotional Labor’ refers to the management of emotions carried out to fulfill work performance when faced with clients. Facilitators are required to be able to harmonize their emotions with a socially constructed hierarchy or order. They must understand what emotions are allowed to be shown and not when listening to client stories. Repeated mentoring experiences shape their knowledge and memory of the repertoire of emotions when assisting clients. Furthermore, the process of assisting cases of violence against women and children has a dynamic approach both feminist and gender.

Listening to the emotions released by the client makes the companion experience second traumatization. This opens up further discussion that the experience of trauma is not only experienced by subjects who are directly treated with violence, but those who absorb the emotions of victims will also experience ‘second traumatization’, such as assistants and sign language interpreters. Emotional and mental exhaustion becomes the point where the assistants have an experience with the victim, beyond their technical skills. Mona describes the emotional flow of the helper and the victim in an interesting diagram, how the helper has to empty their emotional glass between before and after entering the hot table (where the client tells about their case). They professionally process their emotions in order to maintain themselves mentally so that they can continue to assist victims. This discussion brings us to the fact that the advocates actually have the potential to experience unequal care, where they give their full care to others, but they do not get the same care because they are considered not victims even though they absorb trauma from clients every day and fight for them. Sometimes, both survivors and caregivers feel very grateful when they can forget a very painful traumatic experience. From this we can conclude that forgetting is not a passive thing, but an active process that is also selective in building individual and collective memory. The ability to forget is also a valuable skill in emotional labor, in addition to the ability to remember which has been widely applied.

This discussion ended with several stories of assistants who were carrying out their temporal agencies by caring for each other and strengthening the emotional conditions of fellow assistants. Activities such as watching movies, joking, walking, telling stories and laughing out loud are a form of temporal agencies for the assistants so that their mental state is maintained and they can return to caring for other victims.

Author: Nuzul Solekhah
Photo: Puspita Nindya Sari

Community service or KKN (Kuliah Kerya Nyata) is an important part of higher education in Indonesia, especially at Universitas Gadjah Mada. The KKN-PPM UGM SG 007 with the theme “Optimizing Local Potential to Realize Community-Based Sustainable Tourism in Namu, Batujaya, and Malaringgi Villages” was carried out by 28 UGM students from July 1, 2024 to August 19, 2024. The team received appreciation from H. Surunuddin Dangga, S.T., M.M. as the Regent of South Konawe when participating in the Stunting Eradication Program in Namu Village.

Rafi Ramdani, a student of Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, in early July to mid-August, carried out KKN-PPM in Malaringgi Village, Laonti District, South Konawe Regency which witnessed his enthusiasm to serve the community through the Pinaika Musical Instrument Teaching program with the theme “Educating Malaringgi.” The program was held in the village of Malaringgi: Comprehensive and innovative learning activities for children”. This program has been designed by the UGM KKN-PPM team under the guidance of Dra. Eko Sulistyani, M.Sc, from the Department of Physics, FMIPA UGM with the main objective of providing comprehensive education to students in Malaringgi Village.

Rafi’s program focuses on teaching and training children to play the pianika as one of the modern musical instruments developing in Indonesia. He realizes that music is not just entertainment, but also a means to develop children’s cognitive, social, and emotional skills as well as a medium to preserve local culture by adapting local songs using modern musical instruments. By introducing the pianika, which is a modern musical instrument but easy to learn, children can improve hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and the ability to read musical notation. In addition, through playing music together, children also learn to work together and communicate better.

Photo of Rafi teaching children to play the pianika

The community welcomed this program enthusiastically. Children who previously had limitations in playing musical instruments are now starting to show significant improvement. Rafi not only acts as a teacher, but also as a mentor who helps build confidence in the children to explore and learn music. With the skill of playing the pianika, the children are expected to have wider opportunities to participate in various art activities at school and outside of school. This can pave the way for them to explore their interests and talents in music, which can be a provision for the future.

The community service carried out by Rafi is a reflection of the role of students in bringing positive changes to various layers of society. With his enthusiasm and dedication, he proves that Anthropology students of FIB UGM are not only committed to improving academic quality, but also have an active role in creating positive impacts in society. This program not only provides training in music playing skills, but also brings a glimmer of hope and a place of creativity for the children of Malaringgi Village to face a brighter future as the next generation of the nation.