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 Friday, March 1, 2024, the Department of History, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM held another colloquium for history masters. There were two presenters and two discussants in the colloquium, namely Fajar Santosa and Adi Wildan Alamsyah as presenters, and Dr. Ahmad Athoillah and Dr. Ravando Lie as discussants. The event took place in a hybrid manner (online and offline) from 09.00 to 12.00 WIB in Room 709 Soegondo Building, Faculty of Arts UGM.

Fajar Santosa was the first presenter in the colloquium. He presented his thesis plan entitled “When the People Rebelled: Mass Movements in the 1998 Reformation in Surabaya” which discussed mass movements in the second metropolitan city, Surabaya, during the outbreak of reform events centered in Jakarta. He explained that the demand for reform was caused by the economic crisis that occurred at that time. The crisis caused the price of goods to rise, layoffs occurred in various places, and riots occurred everywhere. The small and middle class people panicked. They formed a social movement demanding reform and the resignation of President Soeharto from office.

Fajar Santosa said that the narrative that has developed so far only describes the reform movement in 1998 as a student movement as a representation of the middle class. Meanwhile, the narrative that explains that reform was driven by all classes, including the small, middle and elite, has not been widely discussed, including in the context of Surabaya. In his thesis plan, Fajar Santosa uses Eric Hoffer’s Mass Movement theory as a conceptual basis.

Next, the thesis plan entitled “The Chinese Community in Jember 1947-1971: Displacement and the Process of Social Integration with Local Communities” was presented by Adi Wildan Alamsyah as the second presenter. He explained that during the Bersiap period (1945-1947), the Chinese community became one of the excluded groups. Around 4000 Chinese refugees from West Java chose Jember as their destination to seek refuge. In the new region, they continued their lives and integrated with the Jemberan community. The soccer game and the existence of the square became a medium of integration between the Chinese refugees and the Jemberan community.

Adi Wildan Alamsyah said that one of the reasons why Jember was chosen as a destination for Chinese refugees was probably because Jember was a member of the Chinese chamber of commerce. Other members of the Chinese chamber of commerce include Cirebon, Bandung, and Batavia as its center. He also said that Jember as a city can be said to be a diaspora city. This is because many people from various tribes and ethnicities have come and settled in Jember, such as Javanese-Madurese, Osing, Mandarese, and Chinese.

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.

SDGs 4 Quality Education | SDGs 4: Education | SDGs 4: Cultural diversity | SDGs 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions | SDGs 1: Non-discrimination

American Literature is one of the courses in the Master’s Program in American Studies that uses American literary works from the classical era to Post-Modernism as the objects and materials for discussion. This American Literature class provides students with a new experience in exploring the relationship between American literary works and the country itself. Based on the understanding that the narrative of a literary work represents the author’s thoughts on the events they have experienced and the occurrences around them, this class presents various understandings of American literature and how it projects the state of society in each era, such as the Romanticism, Realism, and Harlem Renaissance eras.

In this lecture, the discussion began with an explanation of the Post-Modernism era, which emerged around the 1960s. With the development of new art forms like performance art as a result of World War II, other forms of art, including literary works, were also influenced, especially in terms of characteristics. Some of the characteristics explained in this session include how writers began to focus on the experiences of others with different backgrounds, or write about how power and ideology from those in power can influence society’s perception of their surroundings, while also raising awareness among the public about everything they believe in and hold dear.

Using Amanda Gorman’s work, ‘The Hill We Climb,’ which was recited during President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the class discussion connected the author, a young Black woman, with America, particularly in its real-world context. Through presentations and discussions between students and the professor, this class produced various interpretations of how this poem depicts American democracy from a minority perspective. After lengthy discussions, the result of these student-professor dialogues and interpretations was that, despite America’s many ‘sins’ in the past, especially towards Black people, this poem serves as a call for all Americans, regardless of race, to pass on a better democracy and country to future generations.

Besides conducting an in-depth discussion on the meaning of a literary work, the conversation also delved into the writing style of Black authors, who use certain linguistic structures, and the presence of intertextuality, or the use of writings from other Black authors to reinforce the message being conveyed. Moreover, the discussion covered the characteristics of post-modernist literature and how ‘The Hill We Climb’ embodies one of these post-modernist traits.