Friday, February 23, 2024 – The French Studies Student Association of UGM held a Handover event from the management of the 2023 period to the new management of the 2024 period. The event took place at the Soegondo Auditorium and started at 11:00 WIB moments after the Student Gathering event was over. This event is in accordance with SDGs point number 4, namely Quality Education. The event was led by two Masters of Ceremony from the new management, Ajeng and Aurell.

There are several agendas on today’s Handover of Position. The first was a speech from the Chairperson of the French Language and Literature Study Program, Madame Dr. Hayatul Cholsy, S.S., M.Hum followed by the final speech from the Chairperson of HMSP Period 2023, Catharina Maida Muhamartha. Furthermore, there was a symbolic event of Handover of Position in the form of releasing the corsa from each Daily Management of the 2023 Period which was then given and worn by the Daily Management of the 2024 Period.

The symbolic event started from the Chairman of HMSP and ended with the Interest and Talent Department. After that, the Executive Board of the 2023 Period was invited to sit back down and the new Executive Board remained standing in front of the Auditorium podium to then take the Oath and Promise led by the Head of the Study Program. After the reading of the Oath and Promise, the event was closed with a prayer. Before leaving the Auditorium, the Executive Board for the 2023 and 2024 Periods and the Head of the Study Program took a group photo on the Auditorium podium. The event ended at 11.30 WIB.

Friday, February 23, 2024 – The UGM French Language and Literature study program held a Student Gathering event at the Soegondo Auditorium on the seventh floor. This event is held at the beginning of each semester with the aim of providing the latest information related to the academic activities of the study program for the next semester and reminding students to always make a learning plan for the next semester so that they are better prepared and can achieve maximum achievement. This program is in accordance with SDGs point number 4, namely Quality Education and SDGs number 17, namely Partnerships to achieve goals.

The event began at 09.00 WIB and was led directly by the Head of the French Language and Literature Study Program, Madame Dr. Hayatul Cholsy, S.S., M.Hum and attended by several French Language and Literature lecturers. This event was attended by all active students of the French Language and Literature Study Program. At the end of this event session, there was a question and answer segment and some students asked questions related to technical processes, such as how to do Pre-KRS, KRS process for KKN period 2 in 2024, and also student exchange information from Study Program partners. The event ran smoothly and was full of enthusiasm from the participants and ended at 10.45 WIB.

In a public lecture held on Friday, March 8, 2024, the UGM Department of History presented Dr. Maarten Fornerod, an associate professor in cell biology from Erasmus Medisch Centrum Rotterdam. In addition, he is also the secretary of the Indische Genealogische Vereniging (IGV) organization. This event is entitled Tracing Indonesian Family History in Europe: How the World Gets Smaller by Bigger Data From Archives and DNA which was held on the 2nd Floor of the Multimedia Room, Margono Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM from 09.00-11.00 WIB.

The presentation material presented by Dr. Maarten Fornerod related to the methodology of the object of study of family history is fairly new. He introduced a methodology that combines the use of archival sources and DNA data tracking of the object under study. He used this method to trace his family history which showed that his family had Chinese genealogy from Indonesia. Then, his relatives spread to several countries in Europe. Dr. Maarten Fornerod also explained that the Indonesian-Dutch heritage that spreads in Europe usually starts from the mother’s line. This is related to mitochondrial DNA, which scientifically is one hundred percent inherited from the mother.

Dr. Maarten Fonerod also said that IGV in collaboration with the VerhalenOverLeven Foundation is conducting a research project entitled “10,000 Voormoeders Project”. This activity aims to build a database consisting of photos, biographical data, and oral history information about 10,000 former Ancestral Mothers in Asia. The project invites the participation of the public who have genealogical connections to the Dutch East Indies or Indonesia to collect various information related to their ancestors. The database that is built is expected to navigate the various dimensions of information obtained to find out the family history of descendants of the Dutch East Indies or Indonesia in Europe.

“So, my conclusion is that… the archive and the DNA can be used to get a clear picture of individual histories, right? And this connection of individual histories, there are rich sources of human history, and they kind of complement, let’s say, top-down history, official history from the government,” said Dr. Maarten Fornerod.

The Master of Archaeology Study Program is one of the study programs managed by the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. This study program is accredited A (very good) by the National Accreditation Board for Higher Education (BAN-PT) for the period 2021-2026. The Master of Archaeology Study Program currently opens three types of programs offered for undergraduate graduates from various fields of science. These programs include Program by Course (Regular), Program by Research, and Double Degree Program.

Participants of Program by Course (Regular) and Program by Research can choose one of three main interests, namely Archaeology, Museology or Cultural Heritage Management, while the Double Degree Program is specifically offered for Heritage Studies enthusiasts. The courses offered, both compulsory and elective, are taught by lecturers who are experts in their fields, and can be taken by participants of all three programs. The scholarships that can be taken by Master of Archaeology students of FIB UGM include LPDP Scholarships (General, Affirmation, Targeted, Double Degree), Higher Education Lecturer Scholarships, Cultural Performer Scholarships, and Private Scholarships (YAD or others).

More information about the Master of Archaeology program and how to apply, can be obtained at the following link: Master of Archaeology Major Leaflet

On Wednesday, March 06, 2024, the Department of History of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM held a seminar series on the history of Chinese people in Indonesia. The seminar entitled “The Role of Chinese in Indonesian History” was held in the Multimedia Room, 2nd Floor, Margono Building, Faculty of Arts UGM from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. This seminar was very interesting because the speakers who attended to present their research results came from China. Meanwhile, Dr. Farabi Fakih, M.Phil. from the Department of History UGM served as moderator.

The first speaker in the seminar was Guanmian Xu, an Assistant Professor from the Department of History, University of Peking. His research titled “Capitalism to Genocide: Batavia’s Sugar Frontier, 1700-1740” which explains the emergence of Chinese capitalism in the sugar industry and its relation to the Chinese genocide in Batavia in the 18th century. Xu, who used a global-history perspective in his research, revealed that the thick issues of racism, violence, and cross-cultural misunderstanding were factors that influenced the ethnic cleansing.

Meanwhile, Ma Guanglu who is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the School of International Relations, Xiamen University presented the results of his research entitled “Bung Karno’s Body and Chinese Doctors”. In his presentation, he explained about diplomacy in the medical field between China and Indonesia that occurred in 1962 until the fall of Sukarno’s government in 1965. Ma’s presentation quite clearly shows the political position of President Sukarno at that time towards the Chinese government.