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.

SDGs 4: Quality Education|SDGs 17: Partnership for the Goals

Yogyakarta, January 26, 2024 – A student of the Arabic Literature Study Program, Department of Language and Literature, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FIB UGM), has completed the MBKM Campus Teaching program at the Miftahul Huda Kroya Islamic Boarding School with flying colors. This program is part of the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) which aims to provide out-of-class learning experiences for students. This program focuses on assisting learning and fostering the use of Arabic and English in Islamic boarding schools.

While at the Miftahul Huda Kroya Islamic Boarding School, the two UGM students carried out various activities, including Language Classes, Foreign Language Talks, Student Mentoring, Bilingual Speech, Dhiba’ and Barzanji Readings, Language Tests, Listening Training, National Santri Day Commemoration Competition, Socialization of the Importance of Foreign Languages, and Vocabulary Book Making.

The Campus Teaching Program at the Miftahul Huda Kroya Islamic Boarding School is a real example of a beneficial collaboration between universities and Islamic boarding schools in improving the quality of education in Indonesia. This program is expected to produce a young generation that excels in Arabic and English and is ready to compete in the global arena.

SDGs 4: Quality Education|SDGs 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth|SDGs 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions|SDGs 17: Partnership for the Goals

Yogyakarta, January 27, 2024 – The internship program for UGM Arabic Literature students at the Sleman Regency Ministry of Religious Affairs Office was assigned to several service sections, namely Hajj and Umrah, Madrasah Education Section, and Public Relations Services. There are four students in this section. During the internship process, students were guided and monitored directly by the Mr. and Mrs. employees, they provided job descriptions that matched the students’ abilities, especially in the fields of communication, correspondence, archiving, and public services.

Some of the tasks given to the interns in the Hajj and Umrah section include: Assisting with the administration of registration, cancellation, and transfer of Hajj pilgrims’ portions; Assisting with the digitization of Hajj pilgrims’ data; Assisting with the registration of Hajj pilgrims’ passports; Assisting with the provision of Hajj consultation services to prospective Hajj pilgrims. The work sessions for the interns are adjusted to the working hours of the Sleman Regency Ministry of Religious Affairs Office.

For the Madrasah Education Section, the following tasks are given: Verifying data on educational personnel, starting from checking, validating, and ensuring the accuracy of the data; Managing the application on the Education and Teacher Personnel Management Information System of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Simpatika) for educational personnel; Managing data and information systems for educational personnel, including updating data; Archiving supporting documents for the administrative needs of educational personnel; Assisting with the preparation of BOSDA and BOSNAS reports; Providing information services related to regulations, requirements, and facilities and infrastructure needs for educational personnel; Calculating the performance allowances for teachers and madrasah supervisors; Applying Ms. Excel formulas, especially VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP formulas, to ensure the accuracy of Teacher and Supervisor Performance Allowances.

Furthermore, in the public relations service, some of the tasks carried out include: Making videos of routine activities of the Sleman Regency Ministry of Religious Affairs Office; Making press releases; Assisting with the input of correspondence in the Sedakep application; Assisting with services at the One-Stop Integrated Service of the Sleman Regency Ministry of Religious Affairs Office. The work sessions are carried out in accordance with the working hours that have been applied for all employees of the Sleman Regency Ministry of Religious Affairs Office.

Double degree program in Heritage studies (UGM) and in critical heritage studies of Asia and Europe (Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands) is a program where postgraduate students, especially those majoring in archeology, can study in two places, namely Indonesia and the Netherlands for two semesters each and will get two degrees at once. In order to socialize this program to archeology students of Gadjah Mada University, the director of the Universiteit Leiden office and KITLV from Jakarta, Marrik Bellen, visited the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University. Held in the multimedia room of the Margono building on February 5th 2024 at 2 pm, the Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences himself gave a welcoming speech.

This event was attended by archeology postgraduate students both offline and online. Meanwhile, the two main speakers tasked with conveying the program mechanism were Dr. Anggraeni M.A. as the first speaker from Gadjah Mada University and Dr. Elena Paskaleva from Universiteit Leiden as the second speaker. The first speaker discussed the registration mechanism starting from the time period, requirements that must be met, registration requirements, number of students who will be accepted, and many more which can be checked on the um.ugm.ac.id page. For Indonesia. students, they will get two diplomas at once after they complete 1 year of study at their campus in Indonesia and 1 year at Universiteit Leiden. Meanwhile, Leiden students will immediately receive a diploma after completing each 1 year of study.

Through the zoom meeting, the second speaker focused more on explaining the mechanisms during the study. The presentation begins by giving reasons why you should study at Universiteit Leiden and what career prospects that students will get in the future. After that, she began to explain the things that needed to be prepared when studying there, such as preparing the language because all lectures will be held in English, there were 60 EC/European Credit (SKS) a year with 28 hours per EC, and there were many courses that could be chosen. such as Politics, Economics, Literature, Language, and many more. She also provides information about where students have to look for themselves, but can ask others because there are many Indonesian students studying at the university.

As an implementation of collaboration between Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS) and Gadjah Mada University (UGM), INCULS was holding an intensive Special Lecture Korea-Indonesia & Indonesia-Korea Interpretation program. A total of 9 BUFS students for 2 weeks starting from January 15th 2024 had undergone language learning, especially regarding the Interpretation course at INCULS (Indonesian Language and Culture Learning Service), Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University. On Friday, January 26th 2024, the closing ceremony was held in the Soegondo building, room 721, 13.00-15.00 West Indonesia Time.

The closing agenda featured several speeches coming from INCULS staff, program teachers, and representatives of participants who were BUFS students. From INCULS, there was a deputy coordinator who provided reporting on the entire program where this intensive learning was carried out specifically regarding the Interpretation course which includes Medical, Tourism, Events and Business topics. The INCULS Coordinator gave a speech and officially closed the program. There were two teachers who also gave speeches. And last, there was a speech from one of the students who expressed his good impression during the program and also expressed his gratitude for the valuable knowledge that had been provided.

The event closed by giving a certificate to each student participating in the program. Even though at the beginning of the learning period it could be said to be very difficult, as time went on the process felt easier because the program participants were able to adapt well day by day. Gratitude colored the closing event because the learning process went smoothly and gave a good impression to all participants. Hopefully the experience gained will be a valuable experience. Always enthusiastic and successful! Hopefully we’ll meet again soon!