Yogyakarta, August 14, 2024 – The 2024 National Dissemination Seminar organized by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) was held successfully on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, through the Zoom Meeting. The event was attended by participants from various academic especially literature students and any professional circles interested in the latest developments in literature, language, and cultural studies.

Event Agenda:

08.00 – 08.30: Opening by MC Ismi Fahrun Nisa, accompanied by the playing of Indonesia Raya song. Remarks were delivered by the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities UGM, the Head of the UGM Master of Literature Program, and the Chairperson of the National Dissemination 2024. The event then continued with the introduction of the moderator.

08.30 – 08.40: The moderator introduced the two speakers of the national seminar.

08.40 – 09.30: National Seminar 1 with the topic “Posthumanism in Literature, Language, and Culture Studies: The Challenge of Finding -ism After Humanism”, delivered by Prof. Dr. Djoko Saryono, M.Pd., with moderator Ricky Y. Nasution.

09.25 – 10.15: National Seminar Material 2 entitled “Getting to Know Philosophical Posthumanism” by Fitrilya Anjarsari, S.S., M.A., with moderator Ricky Y. Nasution.

10.15 – 10.45: Q&A session for national seminar materials.

10.50 – 12.20: Panel 1 with presenter and reviewer Dr. Pujiharto, M.Hum. Six groups of presenters presented material for 10 minutes each, followed by 30 minutes of discussion consisting of 25 minutes of question and answer sessions and 5 minutes of closing statements from reviewers. This panel was moderated by Rengga Daniar.

12.45 – 14.15: Panel 2 with presenter and reviewer Dr. Phil. Ramayda Akmal, S.S., M.A. Six groups of presenters present their presentations, followed by a 30-minute discussion. This panel is moderated by Dwi Utari.

14.20 – 15.50: Panel 3 with presenter and reviewer Dr. Aprinus Salam, M.Hum. Six groups of presenters presented their material, followed by a 30-minute discussion. This panel was moderated by Beryl S. A.

15.50 – 16.00: Closing ceremony.

This seminar focused on posthumanism, exploring challenges and new perspectives in the study of literature, language, and culture in the post-humanist era. Through expert presentations and in-depth discussions, participants are expected to gain new insights that can be applied in their research and academic practice.

Yogyakarta, August 13, 2024 – The Faculty of Humanities of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) successfully held the inaugural lecture for new undergraduate students of the Class of 2024 with the theme “The Role of Humanities in the 21st Century”. The event was held on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, from 08.00 WIB to 11.00 WIB at Soegondo Building, UGM. Facing the number of participants reaching 700 people, this inaugural lecture was held offline at Soegondo Auditorium and online in various classes that had been determined. The division of rooms for this event was as follows:

– Soegondo Auditorium: Students of the Cultural Anthropology, Indonesian Language and Literature, and Tourism Study Programs.

– Soegondo Room 707: Students of the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture, French Language and Literature, and History programs.

– Soegondo Room 625+627: Students of Korean Language and Culture Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 521+522: Students of the English Literature Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 407+409: Students of the Arabic Literature Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 310: Students of Japanese Language and Culture Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 226+227: Students of the Archaeology Study Program.

The event was attended by Heads of Departments and Heads of Undergraduate Study Programs (S1) and guided by the moderator, Dr. Wulan Tri Astuti, S.S., M.A.. This event certainly presents excellent speakers: Prof. Dr. Fadlil Munawaar Manshur, M.S., Prof. Dr. Bambang Hudayana, M.A., Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M.Hum., and Prof. Dr. Hendrokumoro, M.Hum. The speakers gave in-depth presentations on the contribution and relevance of the humanities in the context of the 21st century, providing valuable insights for the new students to start their academic journey. With high enthusiasm and spirit, new students are expected to absorb knowledge and inspiration from this inaugural lecture to build useful knowledge in the field of humanities.

Friday, August 9, 2024 – In the framework of the 69th Anniversary of the Faculty of Economics & Business (FEB) Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), a women’s volleyball match was held which brought together the FEB UGM team with the Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) UGM team. The match was held at 07.30 WIB at the FEB UGM Volleyball Court, which is located next to Pertamina Tower.

Although the match was won by the FEB UGM team, FIB UGM’s participation in this event received high appreciation. The FIB UGM team showed great spirit and enthusiasm, and enjoyed every moment of the game. The joy and spirit of sportsmanship shown by the UGM Faculty of Arts team added to the festive atmosphere in this 69th Anniversary celebration.

FIB UGM was very happy to be able to enliven the event organized by their neighboring faculty and hopes that similar activities can continue to strengthen relations between faculties and create more opportunities for collaboration in the future.

On Monday, August 5, 2024, the Master of Literature Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has successfully held an online socialization of new student admissions. This activity was attended by all new students of odd semester 2024/2025 after they completed the registration stage. This socialization aims to introduce the lecture process and various important information related to the study program.

The event, which started at 10.00 WIB, went smoothly and was attended by many participants. Through the Whatsapp Group platform, new students were given the opportunity to interact directly with the study program, namely Dr. Aprinus Salam, M.Hum. as the head of the master of literature study program, and get a detailed explanation of the procedures for lectures and other academic activities. We hope that this activity provides optimal benefits and readiness for new students in starting their academic journey.

Decolonization is an important issue that continues to be studied in the social sciences these days. The effort to break away from Western hegemony, which is a legacy of colonialism, is a long road that is being traveled, especially for Global North thinkers. This effort was also evident in a forum entitled Who Can Speak and What We Can Speak About held at AAS, Gadjah Mada University, July 11, 2024.

In this forum, there were 6 speakers who presented their research results. The common threads of the presentations were about the fate of others, the struggle for human rights, and efforts to uncover the Global North-Global South power relations.

The first speaker was Lili Chen from the National University of East Timor. In her presentation, she explained the dynamics of life for LGBT people in Timor Leste. After independence from Indonesia, LGBT people in Timor Leste are quite progressive. Compared to Indonesia, this group is also much more accepted. This can be seen from the Pride Parade that they can participate in in Dili every year. However, this does not mean that their lives are completely safe. In a country with a highly religious Christian population, LGBT people are still discriminated against. However, there are efforts made by LGBT people to negotiate this. For example, they try to continue to explore pre-colonial local culture, which actually also recognizes the concept of gender outside heteronormativity.

Still related to gender issues, Carol Rodriguez Bello Dawonlay from the University of Philippines, discussed various indigenous women’s groups in the Philippines against child marriage and gender violence. Meanwhile, Anna Christi Suwardi from Mae Fah Luang University, also discussed the role of women in efforts to resolve conflicts in Southern Thailand.

Faryal Khan from the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies (BICC) discussed the military conflict in South Waziristan, Pakistan. According to Khan, the conflict involving the state and various tribes became prolonged, because the state took a military approach to resolve it.

Faryal Khan’s presentation was also linked to that of Amjad Hassan from the National University of Modern Language Peshawar. Hassan, who is also from Pakistan, criticized the state’s approach to resolving various violent conflicts in Pakistan. According to Hassan, Pakistani policymakers, think tanks and intellectuals still take a Western approach, especially the realist, positivistic and capitalist modernity approach. This is highly ineffective as Pakistan will always fail to address the root cause of all modern conflicts, which is actually the West itself. According to Hassan, the West, especially America, is the elephant in the room that has failed to be identified. Therefore, it is important to map the extent of their interests behind these violent conflicts.

Meanwhile, Gopale Amarnath discussed the problem of health facilities in the Gadchiroli region of Maharashtra, India, which is an area of conflict between the government and left-wing extremists. According to Amarnath, the presence of these extremist groups has made the region discriminated in terms of health policy. Amarnath expressed concern about the poor health facilities and lack of doctors in the area. In addition, the lack of child care facilities, maternal delivery, and proper buildings, also complicates the problem. Moreover, the military also often enters hospitals or health centers to conduct inspections, which makes health workers worried.

In general, the forum also discussed research methods based on the spirit of decolonization. There are at least three points that researchers who go into the field should do. First, they should listen more. Second, research must be based on consent, or the agreement of both parties. Third, do no harm, or do not hurt the physical and emotional well-being of the group being visited.  This forum is very important because it shows how field research methods can explore problems in depth, but also based on empathy for affected communities. This is also a form of decolonization, especially of anthropological research methods that used to objectify the indigenous population. Decolonization is not only a result, but also a process.

Author: Ari Bagus Panuntun