SDG 4: Quality education | SDGs 4: Education | SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth | SDGs 8: Culture | SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDGs 11: Adaptable | SDG 16: Peace, justice, and strong institutions | SDGs 16: Education | SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals | SDGs 17: Fostering Innovation

The title of this Public Lecture succeeded in attracting the attention of students from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University who were interested in concentrating on translation to attend the Multimedia Room on the 2nd floor of the Margono Building on Tuesday 20th of February 2024. Students from various levels and classes as well as lecturers filled the room from 9 am to gain new knowledge about translation from extraordinary sources in their field. The resource person is the Head of Pacific and Asian Students from the University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada). Before presenting his material, he expressed his deepest gratitude to the Faculty of Cultural Sciences for supporting his research and to the students who were willing to take the time to attend the general lecture.

The material opened by explaining the meaning of translation so that public lecture participants knew the basic knowledge first before discussing translation and its problems in more depth. The use of differentiation in each concept of religion and atma was one of the problems in translation where there might be a language transformation adapted from the old concept to the new constitution. On the issue of religion and atma, there were a number of terms and other languages that were trapped in language transformation efforts. The presenter delivered the material in a way that was easy to understand, namely by relating it to examples found in everyday life based on the presenter’s personal experience. From the presentation given, he concluded that the use of linguistics, especially in the field of translation, could not be separated from concepts in everyday life.

Prof. Dr. Faruk HT., moderator at this public lecture, closed by providing a simpler conclusion that there were three important points that could be noted. First, translation as a crossing of meaning. This does not only apply to interlanguage translations but also between languages, for example between one group and another. Second, the concept of metaphor is conveying something with another meaning. This meaning can also be reversed, that is, conveying the meaning with a different name or sign. Third, meaning is a fluid process that can change from one place to another, from one case to another, such as in the case of religion and atma. Finally, the question and answer session was led by a different moderator, namely Dr. Arsanti Wulandari, M. Hum.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals | SDGs 17: Global partnership | SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institution | SDGs 16: Conflict resolution | SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDGs 11: Community

On Tuesday, February 13th 2024 at 1 until 3 pm, the UGM Japanese Language and Culture Study Program held a public lecture on the topic “Will Japan become a ‘normal country’?: Changes in the Defense Debate Before and After the Outbreak of The Ukraine War ” which was delivered by researchers and teaching staff at the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies from Kobe University, (Ass. Prof.) Masato Nakahara. This Public Lecture was the opening for the 2023/2024 even semester lecture activities which were attended by lecturers and students of the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program, as well as students from outside the study program who were interested in Japanese issues.

In the first part, Nakahara-sensei explained the history of the formation of the Jieitai (Japanese Self-Defense Forces) after Japan’s defeat in World War II and changed in the position of the Jieitai during the Allied occupation as regulated in the Showa Constitution which was in effect to this day. The restrictions on Jieitai activities regulated in the Showa Constitution meant that Japan’s military activities were very limited, including when there was a war outside Japan, such as Russia’s war with Ukraine, which is still ongoing today. Japan’s position in relation to security and world peace is a dilemma because sending war troops abroad violates the mandate of the Shouwa Constitution, while on the other hand the international world wants Japan to play an active role in sending war troops. Especially in the current era where changes in the global political constellation after the Cold War are increasingly dynamic and real, Japan, which is required to always prioritize peace as mandated by the Shouwa Constitution (Heiwa Kenpou), needs to look for new interpretations so that it can become a ‘normal’ country, namely a country that on the one hand can maintain sovereignty, and on the other hand can play a role in world peace. After the presentation session by Nakahara-sensei, the public lecture continued with a discussion and question and answer session which was very dynamic and filled with various questions from the public lecture participants regarding Japan’s attitude and position in relation to international conflicts, geopolitical changes in East Asia and Indonesia.

Understanding the position of Japan in the context of global change is considered important for the study program’s academic community because apart from being a means of updating information related to current issues regarding the country of Japan, it is also a means of learning and inspiration for research themes concerning Japanese issues. More than that, through forums like this, cooperation between study programs and foreign institutions can be further enhanced and can become a means for study programs to facilitate their academic community to be able to move more globally, in accordance with one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), namely developing global partnerships for development.

SDGS 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | SDGs 17: Partnership for the Goals

On Tuesday, February 13th, 2024, Universitas Gadjah Mada through the UGM Public Relations, News, and Protocol Office held a Technical Guidance with the theme “Management of Universitas Gadjah Mada Social Media” for public relations, protocol, and news staff in the UGM work unit environment which was held in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, from 09.00 – 12.00 WIB. To strengthen the university’s public relations function, UGM presented several speakers from the UGM Public Relations, News, and Protocol Office to present the material themes. This aligns with providing information services to the public about events, events, and information around UGM.

The Technical Guidance session began with a speech from the Deputy Dean for Alumni, Cooperation, and Innovation, Dr. Fajar Adi Kusumo, S.Si., M.Sc., who stated that the publication of activities carried out in the UGM environment could be a source of inspiration for the wider community, therefore it is necessary to have qualified knowledge to manage information for the public, especially information that is shared through social media. In line with this, Mrs. Hestining Kurniastutim, S.S., M.B.A., Head of the UGM Public Relations, News, and Protocol Office, also stated the high urgency of social media, as well as the traffic of the existence of the official pages of each unit which affects the ups and downs of information accessibility caused by the increasingly rapid communication.

The Technical Guidance session was then continued with a presentation of material that mapped the segmentation of social media users from each social media platform, the objectives of building social media content, efforts to increase engagement from social media content, the characteristics of content for public information, and the stages of production of content for social media. The presentation of the material ended with the opening of a question and answer session from the faculty, department, and other UGM work units regarding the management of social media on several platforms, copywriting, content feedback management, engaging influencers or important UGM figures, and finding a balance in content creation.

It feels different when we step into things beyond our abilities, it feels different when literature students take part in hackathon competitions, and it is still different when women enter business and even lead. This was what actually wanted to be achieved in the 2023 UNESCO-UNITWIN Advanced Workshop & Hackathon program at Sookmyung Women’s University (SMU), Seoul, South Korea in November-December 2023. Bulan Churniati, an English Literature student at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, had never expected that this program would enable her to compete on the international stage and at the same time experience traveling abroad for the first time.

This was not a trivial journey, this program required us to first be selected from hundreds of internal university students, then took part in training and whoever was the best would represent Gadjah Mada University at the international level later. It was truly an honor that Bulan must be proud of to have had this extraordinary experience, even though it might be a bit of a burden to show her best as a representative of the best university in Indonesia. The reason was, there were many creative ideas from competing countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia—from ideas for making audiobooks, applications to reduce fast fashion, health, and many more. However, the student topic given required the participants to hold their heads high by discussing MSME issues which certainly produced results.

Before taking part in this training, Bulan admitted that she was still too afraid to start her own business and only focused on the theoretical enthusiasm she initiated – PKM-K about entrepreneurship, business case and business plan competitions, and creating content for other people’s MSMEs. Until APWINC came along and gave her lots of ideas, relationships and the courage to start and develop her own online shop, yes, a small step but the most meaningful in 2023. “Thank you for the support of PIKA UGM as a companion and provider of all information, FIB UGM as a beloved faculty, and UNESCO for its extraordinary program, as well as all parties involved. The word ‘finished’ will not stop my passion, but will make me thirstier to learn—wait for me here to share more stories.” said Bulan Churniati.

Long distance travel from Surabaya to Yogyakarta apparently did not prevent them from continuing to show their enthusiasm when listening, watching, and discussing everything about the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University on Wednesday, February 7th 2024. Starting from the quiz session to the question and answer session, they were very enthusiastic about fighting to be appointed. The questions they asked were insightful and very varied, some asked about scholarships, the registration system, and the activities they would do if they were the students here. These high school students have had an interest in the social sector from the start, seeing from the major they take which is social studies, many of them dream of continuing their education at this faculty. The majors they wanted were very diverse, there were tourism, archaeology, Korean language and culture, Japanese literature, and others.

One of the teacher representatives who gave the opening speech repeatedly expressed his gratitude and thanks for the warm welcome they received, and hoped that in the future they would produce many superior generations who were able to compete and were worthy of being part of Gadjah Mada University student. Two other teachers who were also in the group were very humble enough to take the time to shake hands and joke around for a while before leaving the room. Apart from warm greetings, they also gave souvenirs and large parcels in the form of typical Surabaya souvenirs which they brought from far away. After having a light chat before going back, a group photo session was held. This visit ended with a very pleasant impression. The students and accompanying teachers continued their visit by going around to see the environment in the Faculty of Cultural Sciences while occasionally capturing the moment with their cell phone cameras.