Pada hari Rabu 20 Maret 2024, Program Studi Bahasa dan Kebudayaan Jepang (BKJ) mengadakan sosialisasi beasiswa Monbukagakusho/MEXT bersama Kedutaan Besar Jepang Jakarta dengan Fenny Gunadi yang merupakan Study Abroad Advisor dan First Secretary Kawakubo Yuriko Bagian Pendidikan Kedutaan Besar Jepang sebagai pembicara. Kegiatan ini diikuti oleh mahasiswa Prodi BKJ UGM dari berbagai angkatan.

Beasiswa Monbukagakusho atau MEXT adalah beasiswa Kementerian Pendidikan, Budaya, Olahraga, Sains, dan Teknologi Pemerintah Jepang yang ditujukan kepada akademisi dari luar Jepang dengan maksud ingin menempuh pendidikan di Jepang. Beasiswa tersebut terbagi kedalam berbagai tingkat pendidikan mulai dari tingkat Diploma sampai S3. Di jenjang Diploma terdapat dua pilihan beasiswa yaitu beasiswa Specialized Training College (Senshu) dan College of Technology (Kosen). Untuk S1 terdapat beasiswa Undergraduate (Gakubu). Sedangkan untuk S2 dan S3 terdapat beasiswa Research Student. Selain itu, terdapat program beasiswa non degree seperti beasiswa Japanese Studies untuk pertukaran mahasiswa dari jurusan Studi Jepang dan Teacher Training untuk guru Bahasa Jepang aktif di sekolah formal.

Bagi mahasiswa program studi Bahasa dan Kebudayaan Jepang, terdapat dua beasiswa yang bisa dimanfaatkan dan patut untuk dipahami alurnya. Beasiswa tersebut adalah Japanese Studies dan Research Student. Beasiswa Japanese Studies memiliki dua jalur penerimaan yaitu G to G (Government to Government) dan U to U (University To University). Pada alur G to G, mahasiswa akan melalui seleksi dengan dua tahap Screening. Tahap pertama (primary screening) adalah proses seleksi pendaftar dalam negara yang sama, lalu tahap kedua (secondary screening) adalah seleksi para pendaftar antar negara. Di lain sisi, alur beasiswa U to U dilaksanakan dengan universitas dari Jepang langsung menyeleksi pendaftar antar negara. Lalu untuk mahasiswa tingkat S2 atau S3, terdapat beasiswa Research Student dengan beberapa seleksi tambahan. Tidak hanya para akademisi, beasiswa juga terbuka kepada para pengajar bahasa Jepang yakni program Teacher Training selama delapan belas bulan. Program tersebut terbagi dengan enam bulan belajar Bahasa Jepang dan dua belas bulan pelatihan.

Dengan kesempatan yang dibuka oleh pemerintah Jepang, baik mahasiswa, akademisi, maupun pengajar dapat melanjutkan studinya ke Jepang secara cuma-cuma. Tidak hanya ilmu, pengalaman studi di Jepang tersebut akan menjadi daya jual tak ternilai bagi mereka yang berhasil mendapatkan kesempatan tersebut. Jadi, pengadaan sosialisasi ini diharapkan dapat mempersiapkan  mahasiswa yang berminat mendaftar beasiswa dengan lebih matang. Mari berjuang bersama.

The Middle Eastern Culture & Religion Issues (MECRI) journal of the UGM Master of Middle Eastern Cultural Studies Program has officially signed a cooperation agreement with Ittihad Mudarrisi Al-Lughah Al-Arabiyah (IMLA) Indonesia on Friday, March 8, 2024 at Discovery Hotel, Ancol Jakarta. The signing was attended by Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M.Hum. as the ex-officio Chairperson of the Master of Middle Eastern Cultural Studies Program and Dr. Imam Wicaksono, Lc., M.A. as the Managing Editor of the MECRI Journal, while from the IMLA side it was attended by the Chairman, Prof. Dr. Uril Bahruddin, M.A.

MECRI Journal and IMLA Indonesia establish editorial board cooperation in the form of involving IMLA Indonesia as a bestari partner and quality assurance of national and international journal publications online and Open Journal System (OJS). In this historic moment, the Professor of UIN Malik Ibrahim Malang said that the association of lecturers with Arabic Language and Literature journals needs to synergize in improving the quality of education in Indonesia. The entire academic community is obliged to make research-based innovations in the study of Arabic language and literature. With this collaboration, it is hoped that the UGM MECRI Journal can become one of the platforms for the development of scientific publications in Indonesia so that academics and researchers will find it easier to publish scientific papers in the future.

Cairo, Tuesday, February 20, 2024 – Muhammad Raushan Afkar, a student of Arabic Literature UGM, successfully completed the 3-month Cairo Credit Transfer Program. Along with 11 colleagues from Universitas Sebelas Maret, Universitas Padjajaran, and Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia, Afkar joined the study program at the International Center for Arab Studies and Training and Faculty of Letters, Benha University, Egypt. The experience of studying in the land of camels gave him valuable knowledge about the Arabic language and culture which became an important foundation in the development of his studies.

During the program, they were not only taught practical proficiency in Arabic, but were also exposed to the rich culture and history of Arab countries. Students are given in-depth knowledge of the history of Arab civilization and Muslims, as well as the role and contribution of Islamic leaders in creating history.

In every meeting, lecturers actively involve students in listening, analyzing texts, question and answer discussions, and communicating exclusively in Arabic. Students are even encouraged to communicate only in Arabic and will be penalized with a monetary fine if they violate the rules. The money collected is then donated to help the poor people of Egypt. This shows the spirit of solidarity and social responsibility in an academic environment.

In addition, lecturers also enrich the learning experience by bringing typical Egyptian items into the classroom, such as food and cultural artifacts. Thus, students not only gain a comprehensive knowledge of Arabic language and culture, but also acquire a unique and memorable learning experience amidst the richness of Egyptian culture.

At the end of the program, students are given the opportunity to express the knowledge and skills they gained during their journey from Indonesia to Egypt and while living in Egypt through the creation of an Arabic drama with the theme “Journey from Indonesia to Egypt”. Through this drama, students not only show their official Arabic language skills, but also slip some local languages owned by Egypt when interacting and socializing with native Egyptians.

After this program, students are expected to apply what they have learned in Egypt to student life at UGM. They are encouraged to integrate their experiences into their daily activities, both in the use of Arabic language and in the promotion of Arabic culture in the campus environment. Thus, their learning experience does not only stop in Egypt, but also becomes a strong foundation to develop themselves in the future.

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.

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.