SDG 4: Quality education | SDGs 4: Education for sustainability | SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth | SDGs 8: Decent work for all | SDGs 9: Affordable access | SDG 10: Reduced inequalities | SDGs 10: Education | SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDGs 11: Adaptable | SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions | SDGs 16: Accountable institutions

The happy graduates and their parents were present at the Raden Soegondo Building Auditorium, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM / to take part in the Mangayubagya Graduate Program Graduate Program Third period Academic Year 2023/2024 on April 24, 2024. As usual before starting the event, do not forget the Master of Ceremony, which at that time was entrusted to Vivin and Diyah, conveyed some information for safety and smoothness during the event. The audience was then asked to stand while the Dean, Deputy Dean, Head of Department, and Head of Postgraduate Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada entered the ceremony room. After all attendees were in the room, the MC welcomed everyone. 

The event began with several speeches. The first speech, from the Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, will be represented by the Vice Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Nur Saktiningrum, M.Hum. The second speech will be delivered by the Deputy Graduate of the Middle East Cultural Studies Master Program, Br. Rafika Fidlaty Zulfa, M.A. The event continued with the presentation of Beksan Nirbaya Dance performed by FIB UGM students who are members of the Sastro Obah student activity unit. Beksan Nirbaya or Edan-edanan dance is one of dozens of dances in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The dance is named “Edan-edanan Nirbaya Dance”. “Nir” which means reject, “Baya” which means danger so that this dance is interpreted as a dance that rejects danger, especially during the wedding procession or other major events. With four dancers and pairs, this dance was created not only as a ritual to repel bad luck, but also as entertainment.

The next event was the submission of graduation documents consisting of English diplomas and transcripts. The graduation documents were submitted by each Head of Study Program to the graduates. The graduates came forward in an orderly manner to receive the graduation documents followed by a group photo. Before closing, the event was paused for a moment to pray for protection and safety for us and goodness for the Faculty of Cultural Sciences. The joint prayer was led by Br. Cahya Daru, M.A. Finally, the Dean, Deputy Deans, Heads of Departments, and Heads of Postgraduate Study Programs, Faculty of Sciences followed by graduates and parents / guardians were allowed to leave the ceremony room. The organizing committee would like to thank you for your presence in this mangayubagya event.

SDGs 2: Food | SDG 10: Reduced inequalities | SDGs 10: Culture | SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDGs 11: Cultural heritage | SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production | SDGs 12: Consumption

Hello, Mahadaya and Friends of FIB UGM! On Wednesday, 27th of March 2024, the Big Family of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM held an iftar attended by a number of lecturers, teaching staff, part-timer students, retired lecturers and teaching staff, representatives of LEM / HMJ / BSO organizations, and other FIB UGM families. The event was held in the Auditorium of FIB UGM, located on the 7th floor of Soegondo Building at 16.15 – 18.00. This routine event, which is held every Ramadan, aims to maintain and strengthen the kinship between fellow faculty members in order to maintain good synergy in any condition.

Iftar together this time began with a release session and giving mementos to the retired lecturers and teaching staff of FIB UGM for the period of 2023 to March 2024. The event then continued with a session of reading the holy verses of the Quran and saritilawah about the importance of fasting. Next was the recitation agenda where the lecture session was filled by a special speaker, Mr. drh. H. Agung Budiyanto, MP, Ph.D, who presented a lecture topic on the virtues and essence of fasting during the month of Ramadan. The event ended with a closing prayer and continued with breakfasting together. The meal consisted of various snacks and heavy meals. There were also gifts for the guests to take home.

SDG 2: Zero Hunger | SDGs 2: End hunger | SDG 5: Gender equality | SDGs 5: Equality | SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation | SDGs 6: Clean water | SDG 10: Reduced inequalities | SDGs 10: Children | SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDGs 11: Community | SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions | SDGs 16: Conflicts | SDG 17: Partnerships for goals | SDGs 17: Global partnership

In the midst of the raging conflict, the Palestinian people continue to struggle tirelessly to survive. To find out more about their condition and struggle, students of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada attended a TALK SHOW entitled “The Struggle of Palestinian Women and Children Amidst the Israeli Onslaught” with FATMA ALGHUSAIN as the guest speaker. She is the Executive Director of Amna Care Fund, an organization that helps the Palestinian people, especially women and children. “I have experienced four wars while living in Palestine. But this one is not a war. This is genocide!” She said. Mrs Fatma Alghusain also explained the current situation in Palestine.

This activity will be held on Tuesday, 26 March 2024 at 11.00 – 13.00 WIB at Soegondo Building 709 for participants who can attend offline, and via the zoom link for participants who can only follow the event remotely or online. As a form of solidarity for the freedom of the Palestinian people, talk show participants can also prepare their best infaq. In addition to students, the event was also attended by the Head of Arabic Literature Study Programme UGM, Dr Zulfa Purnamawati, S. S., M.Hum. and Mr Imam Hidayat, S.Pd.I., M.Pd. as a representative of Dompet Dhuafa Yogyakarta. After the Q&A session ended, the Head of Arabic Literature UGM handed over souvenirs to the speakers. With this cooperation between the Arabic literature programme and the Dompet Dhuafa, it is hoped that it can make people aware of the current conditions in Palestine.

SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDGs 11: Community | SDG 17: Partnership for goals | SDGs 17: Fostering innovation 

Tak Kenal Maka Tak Sayang. This is a proverb that is often heard in our ears, which contains an extraordinary meaning, namely a call to get to know each other so that good relations are established between fellow human beings. Therefore, in order to strengthen the bond of brotherhood, the Linguistic Family of Gadjah Mada or abbreviated as Kalingga held a MAKRAB KALINGGA event held at Villa Darmawan Kaliurang on 8-9 March 2024. The event was attended by the Gadjah Mada Linguistics Master Student Family from various batches, where the organizers were linguistics students from batch 2023 as well as Kalingga administrators.

With the theme “Menyala Kalinggaku“, a series of events were arranged as interesting as possible to ignite the enthusiasm of the participants in establishing cooperation such as playing games, barbeque, karaoke, congregational prayer, and eating together. The event was closed on the next day by giving prizes to the winners of the games and then a group photo. Kalingga Chairperson, Yuliana Kristianti, in her closing remarks was very grateful to the participants who attended the event, especially the seniors who still took the time to attend to meet and play with their juniors. She also hoped that with the end of the event, the kinship between students would be even closer.

SDGs 4: Quality Education | SDGs 5: Gender Equality | SDGs 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities | SDGs 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Being a college student is certainly one of the most valuable moments in an individual’s life. Their moment is utilized and strived to create significant impacts on the community environment. This act of virtue is realized by Maulita Shinta Maharani, a final year student of the English Department, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, who has taken part in social contributions during her college years. Uli, her nickname, actively participates in several student and external activities, especially those around community relations and social service. She is experienced in cultural immersion and interaction with international students which adds to her insight and knowledge of inclusivity and diversity of cross-cultural backgrounds.

Uli’s journey to be an active student begins with her motivation when she entered college in her first year. Before that, she had not found a suitable student organization or activity for her, but that changed when she entered one of the most prestigious universities in Indonesia, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Uli had the opportunity to join many student organizations and activities that supported her development and growth in the environment she was interested in. Her organizational experiences include an internship at the UGM Office of International Affairs, Head of HRD at UGM Buddy Club, Research Assistant at the English Literature UGM, Academic and Development Staff at Women Beyond Indonesia, Founder of Amnesty Amawa Wikreti under Amnesty International Indonesia, Learning and Development Staff at HopeHelps Network, and currently active as Public Relations Staff at Faculty of Cultural Sciences ,UGM. Uli’s organizational activities led her to take one step further by applying for the Erasmus student exchange program and having the opportunity to become an Erasmus Awardee at Budapest Business University, Hungary.

Not only active in organizations and student activities, Uli has participated in student activities in the scope of culture, namely the Cultural Exchange to the National University of Singapore (NUS) held in October 2023 which aimed to explore multiculturalism in Singapore. At the same time, she also became a research assistant for NUS students who were conducting a research on local communities in Yogyakarta. The result of this activity was a book entitled “Harmony in Diversity: A Journey from Jogja to Singapore, and Back” which tells about the multiculturalism aspects in Singapore and Yogyakarta in particular.

In addition, her passion for writing has made her actively contribute to pouring his thoughts into articles published in several platforms. Some of the articles she has written are as follows:

• “Should Gender be Equal?”: Gender Inequality in Family Form
• “Who is more likely to benefit from child marriage? Children or parents?”: Child Marriage in Temanggung, Central Java
• Nyadran and the Interpretation of Ubarampe: An Annual Tradition to Welcome Ramadan in Temanggung, Central Java, Indonesia
• Fairy Tales vs Feminism
• Women Beyond Bias: Learning from A Figure, An Eye-opening Discussion with Prof. Wening Udasmoro on Multiple Subordination in the Workplace

Her focus on gender studies, diversity, and inclusivity, also made her take the initiative to serve socially by establishing an organization called Amnesty Amawa Wikreti, a human rights organization led by women affiliated with Amnesty International Indonesia. In 2023, she also participated in the Student Community Service-Community Empowerment Learning (KKN-PPM UGM), as part of the final activity for UGM students. Through this program, she participated in community service in Ofu Village, Timor Tengah Selatan, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, which made her become more interested in social service in remote areas and contributing to the service of educational development during the continuation of the program she was involved in.

“I really want to experience life, I want to spend my youth doing a lot of positive activities and building as many relationships as possible,” said Uli, reflecting on the positive experiences and activities she has gone through during her almost four years as a student.

Uli emphasizes the role of a supportive environment as the main source of her successful achievements and experiences to grow and develop. “My parents also gave me the freedom to participate in anything and choose my own path in life. Support from lecturers and the closest ones; Nanda Yulfi Chairunnisa and Steven Glenn Ravanelli Waromi also serves as an important point to grow.”