The Department of Anthropology at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) hosted a visiting lecture titled “Empowering Whom, Changing What? Politics, Rights, and the Challenges of Coastal, Fisherfolk, and Island Community Empowerment in Indonesia.” The event took place on Friday, October 23, 2026, from 09:00 to 11:30 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) at the 3rd Floor Auditorium of the Poerbatjaraka Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) UGM.

The guest lecture featured Dr. Dedi Supriadi Adhuri, a researcher from the Research Center for Society and Culture at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Semarang, as the speaker. Open to the general public, the event was attended by students, lecturers, researchers, and individuals interested in maritime issues, with support from the Indonesian Anthropological Association (AAI).

The event was held in recognition of coastal communities, fisherfolk, and island populations as vital pillars of Indonesia’s identity as a maritime nation. However, these groups continue to face various economic, social, and ecological vulnerabilities. Challenges include limited access to marine resources, shifting policies, and unequal bargaining power. Through an anthropological lens, these issues are viewed not merely as technical problems, but as matters of social justice and the respect for community rights.

In his presentation, Dr. Dedi invited participants to examine maritime life in Indonesia, particularly the conditions of coastal and fishing communities. According to him, these groups are inextricably linked to the politics of empowerment and structural challenges in their struggle to survive while defending their rights. Questions such as “empowering whom and changing what” serve as an entry point to reevaluate existing empowerment programs—ranging from who truly benefits and how community rights are recognized, to the obstacles still faced on the ground.

This guest lecture format provided a platform for direct dialogue with an experienced researcher in maritime studies. Furthermore, the event strengthened the network between UGM, BRIN, and AAI in advancing anthropological studies in Indonesia. Through this initiative, the Department of Anthropology at FIB UGM hopes to foster critical awareness and concern among academics and the public regarding equitable empowerment for Indonesia’s coastal, fisherfolk, and island communities. The discussions are expected to equip students with perspectives and research that champion community interests.

 

Author: Aisyah Alya Muztahid

Sleman, 17 October 2026 — The Master’s Program in Linguistics at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) held the second phase of its community engagement program at Al Munawwar Mosque in Kuningan, Depok, Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta. The program, themed “Melek Literasi Digital: Cerdas Memilih Informasi, Santun Berkomunikasi” (Digital Literacy: Making Informed Choices and Communicating Respectfully), focused on developing the skills needed to navigate digital information and use polite language on social media.

The event was attended by adult men and young people who regularly participate in religious study sessions at the mosque. Participants discussed the importance of critically evaluating information before accepting or sharing it, as well as using appropriate language when communicating in digital spaces. These skills are an essential part of digital literacy, as social media serves not only as a source of information but also as a space for interaction and the exchange of ideas.

The session was delivered by Prof. Dr. Suhandano, with Prof. Dr. Sajarwa serving as moderator. The program also involved faculty members and academics Drs. Tatang Hariri, M.A., Ph.D., Dr. Arief Ma’nawi, S.S., M.Hum., Achmad Rio Dessiar, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., and Dr. Merry Andriani, S.S., M.L.C.S. The presentation was followed by an interactive question-and-answer session, giving participants an opportunity to discuss issues related to information sharing and communication on social media.

Through this initiative, the UGM Master’s Program in Linguistics seeks to strengthen digital literacy in the community, focusing not only on the ability to assess information critically but also on the use of appropriate and respectful language in online communication. Participants are expected to apply these skills in their daily social media use and contribute to a more thoughtful and responsible digital environment.

 

Author: Master’s Program in Linguistics

KAGAMA UGM, in collaboration with KAGAMA Batik and the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Study Program at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), held the 2026 National Batik Day Seminar on Saturday, October 3, 2026. Taking place at the Soegondo Auditorium, FIB UGM, the seminar carried the theme “Preserving Heritage, Nurturing the Future: Batik as a Cultural Identity and a Space for Innovation.” The event was organized to commemorate National Batik Day, which falls on October 2, 2026.

The event opened with a performance of the Golek Ayun-Ayun dance as a welcoming gesture to the guests in attendance. The event was made even more vibrant by a showcase of various types of batik from different regions, ranging from Jakarta batik to Madura batik. This series of activities served as an introduction to the richness of Indonesian batik motifs, the diversity of its traditions, and the cultural values embedded in this heritage.

The seminar featured Dr. Eng. Ir. Laretna Trisnantari Adishakti, M.Arch., a retired UGM lecturer and Chair of the UNESCO Chair in Heritage Cities Conservation and Management, as the keynote speaker. In her presentation, she explored various aspects of batik, including its history, local wisdom, and role in sociocultural movements and international relations diplomacy.

Dr. Eng. Ir. Laretna Trisnantari Adishakti, M.Arch., also highlighted the challenges of sustaining batik traditions amid changing times and emphasized the importance of developing sustainable preservation strategies. One of the key points she raised was batik’s role as a tool of diplomacy, both across the Indonesian archipelago and Southeast Asia, as well as on the global stage. Beyond serving as a cultural identity, batik also has the potential to support a regenerative economy—a system that not only generates economic value but also restores the environment, strengthens social and cultural life, and improves community well-being.

Following the keynote session, the seminar continued with a discussion moderated by Dr. Sulistyowati, S.S., M.Hum., Head of the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Study Program at FIB UGM. The seminar featured two speakers with distinct backgrounds and experiences: dr. CHR Sulistyono, M.Sc., FISQua, owner of Batik Nyah Kiok, which produces Lasem batik in Rembang, and Aji Setyowijaya, S.S., a Yogyakarta batik artisan who also specializes in batik tiga negeri, a traditional batik style combining influences from different regions.

In his presentation, dr. CHR Sulistyono, M.Sc., FISQua, explained the history of Batik Nyah Kiok and the development of Lasem batik, including the challenges involved in ensuring its continued survival. He noted that the existence of Lasem batik is closely intertwined with the customs and cultural practices of the communities that use it. Despite its strong historical and cultural significance, batik faces several challenges today. The declining number of artisans and limited generational renewal are issues that require serious attention. These conditions could hinder the continuity of the knowledge, skills, and batik-making traditions passed down from one generation to the next.

Meanwhile, Aji Setyowijaya, S.S., shared his experience of independently pursuing a career in batik. He emphasized the importance of paying greater attention to batik-making techniques and procedures, which he believes have not received sufficient consideration. According to him, batik preservation efforts should encompass the entire production process, including knowledge of the materials and tools used by artisans. Knowledge of production methods, material availability, equipment use, and technical skills must also be safeguarded to ensure that batik-making traditions continue to thrive. Attention to these production-related aspects is increasingly important in sustaining the livelihoods of batik artisans while creating opportunities for innovation without compromising traditional values.

Participants’ enthusiasm was evident in the wide range of questions and responses raised throughout the seminar. The discussions demonstrated that batik is not only an engaging subject from an aesthetic perspective but also a gateway to broader conversations about history, cultural identity, social practices, economic sustainability, and production challenges.

The 2026 National Batik Day Seminar broadened public understanding of batik’s role in Indonesian life, not merely as a cultural heritage, but also as a means of diplomacy, a source of historical knowledge, an economic opportunity, and a space for innovation. Its development must go hand in hand with community empowerment, including the empowerment of women, and environmental awareness, with artisans and communities recognized as essential parts of the batik ecosystem.

Through this seminar, the organizers invited the public to explore and preserve batik in its entirety, encompassing its motifs, philosophical values, knowledge, and skills passed down through generations. In this way, batik can be safeguarded not only as an expression of Indonesian cultural identity but also as a means of supporting community well-being and developing sustainably as a source of inspiration for future generations.

 

Writer : Haryo Untoro

The Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) Universitas Gadjah Mada reaffirmed its presence by participating in the annual Global Edufair held on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Taking place from 09.00 AM to 06.00 PM Western Indonesia Time, the event successfully captured the attention of thousands of students from all over Indonesia, with the majority of visitors coming from Yogyakarta and its surrounding areas.

As an international-scale education exhibition, this year’s Global Edufair featured more than 80 higher education institutions (exhibitors) from 21 countries worldwide, spanning across Asia, Australia, and Europe. The presence of these global institutions not only enriched visitors’ perspectives but also aimed to build national social capital, enhance the quality of Indonesia’s human resources (HR), and facilitate the younger generation in exploring extensive global study opportunities without losing their local cultural identity.

During the event, FIB UGM occupied a booth inside the GIK Joglo, alongside other participating faculties. Each booth presented an interactive display featuring various pamphlets, academic profiles, and promotional media to assist high school students interested in learning more about the diverse study programs and majors at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences.

High enthusiasm was clearly visible from the students’ visits. “I want to go to the Faculty of Cultural Sciences because it has an Archaeology major, and I’ve been interested in culture since high school,” said a student from SMA Negeri 9 Yogyakarta.

This enthusiasm was also concretely recorded through visitor scan data. This year, a significant increase in visitor numbers was recorded compared to the previous year, with more than 60 people crowding the FIB booth between 09.00 AM and 04.00 PM alone. This high volume of visits serves as a positive indicator that the younger generation’s interest in the fields of culture and literature continues to grow.

Through its participation in this global event, it is hoped that FIB UGM will continue to develop, increasingly become the dream faculty for high school students wishing to delve into cultural sciences and literature, and consistently serve as a comfortable nurturing space to produce outstanding generations supporting an advanced Indonesia.

 

Author: Humas FIB, Zaidan Abdurrahman

YOGYAKARTA — Ghosts, yellow wallpaper, mobile phones, and Malay manuscripts became entry points for exploring spirituality in literature. Through these diverse objects and experiences, presenters at Academic Student Networking (ASN) 2026, held on Wednesday (October 7), demonstrated that literature is not merely concerned with the beauty of language, but also offers critiques of environmental destruction, power relations, and modern human life.

These discussions emerged during the second and third sessions of ASN 2026, which brought together presenters from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Universitas Diponegoro (Undip), and Universitas Andalas (Unand). Through analyses of novels, short stories, poetry, and Malay manuscripts, the presenters explored how spiritual experiences and various forms of strangeness in literature relate to social and cultural issues.

During the second session, moderated by Dinda Aura Putri, Jusmawati from UGM’s Master’s Program in Literature presented a paper titled “Ghosts as the Personification of Climate Trauma in Ayu Welirang’s Jejak Balak.” She interpreted the ghost figure in the novel as a representation of climate trauma, particularly the anxiety arising from environmental destruction and the threat of ecological disasters.

Jusmawati applied E. Kaplan’s (2015) concept of climate trauma to examine the relationship between forest destruction, land ownership conflicts, and the traumatic experiences of local communities. In her reading, environmental damage not only transforms natural conditions but also disrupts communities’ relationships with customary land, traditions, and their living spaces.

One of the issues highlighted was the conversion of customary forest land into oil palm plantations by PT Zamrud Bumi through bureaucratic manipulation. This practice triggered land tenure conflicts and illustrated how economic pressures could push communities to relinquish their ancestral land.

The logging of teak trees also created an ecological space that had lost its function and meaning for the community. This was interpreted as a form of place alienation, in which an environment that had once been integral to community life became an unfamiliar space.

The threat of flash floods, known locally as galodo, intensified this collective anxiety. In the novel, forest destruction is understood as part of a chain of problems that could lead to wider disasters.

Amid this situation, the figure of Inyak emerges as a spiritual figure whose meaning undergoes a transformation. The appearance of a pair of white beads in the customary forest serves as a warning of impending danger before an ecological catastrophe occurs. Initially understood as a sacred ancestor who safeguards moral values, Inyak later appears as a spectral figure who punishes and spreads death in the disputed territory.

Jusmawati also examined the characters’ past trauma, including an experience in which a character’s father slaughtered animals. This trauma becomes intertwined with violence when the figure of Inyak seems to be appropriated through the killing of loggers using artificial claws. In this interpretation, unresolved trauma develops into destructive terror.

Through this analysis, Jusmawati presents the ghost not merely as a source of fear, but as a personification of climate trauma and the social conflicts accompanying environmental destruction.

Horror and the Weird as Critiques of Power

Horror was explored from a different perspective by a team of presenters from Undip, consisting of Nugrahaning Anindita C., Dennis Audria Permana, and Zainab Al Awwahah. In their paper, “Something Queer: Mark Fisher’s Weird Entities in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’,” they traced the shift from Gothic horror to weird fiction, particularly through Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1892 short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

The story follows an unnamed female narrator who undergoes the rest cure, a treatment that restricts a patient’s physical and mental activities. She is confined to a room by her husband, John, a physician, and can express her anxiety only through a hidden diary.

In the presenters’ interpretation, the house and its wallpaper are more than mere settings. The long-vacant house, with its history of inheritance disputes, becomes a space that harbors strangeness. Meanwhile, the room, which should provide shelter, instead becomes a space that restricts the narrator’s freedom.

The yellow wallpaper becomes the center of attention when the narrator begins to see a figure behind its patterns. This strangeness gradually expands, seemingly spreading beyond the room and disturbing other spaces in the house.

This reading demonstrates how something considered irrational can challenge rational explanations. John continues to prioritize medical logic, but the narrator’s experiences reveal that the rational framework he uses to understand her may not be sufficient to explain everything she experiences.

The situation is also connected to power relations within the household. As both the narrator’s husband and physician, John has the authority to determine what is considered true about his wife’s condition. By contrast, the narrator has limited opportunities to communicate her experiences and determine her own needs.

By the end of the story, the narrator increasingly abandons her social roles as a wife and mother. Her apparent madness can be interpreted as a form of resistance to a world that restricts her freedom, although the story offers no entirely conclusive resolution.

The discussion then expanded to the relevance of literature in social life. Wahyu Agung Ramdani questioned the extent to which literature can still be used to address political ecology, particularly when literary works remain inaccessible to many regions and book prices pose barriers to readers. He also raised the question of how readers can avoid becoming mere spectators amid the ecological crisis.

Meanwhile, Muhamad Ferdian Syah from UGM questioned the relationship between the narrator’s psychological condition in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and the weird experiences she undergoes. He suggested that the pressure caused by the rest cure and John’s treatment should not necessarily be separated from her experience of the weird; instead, the two may develop together and shape one another.

These questions extended the discussion beyond textual interpretation to broader issues of how humans understand trauma, the environment, and experiences that cannot always be explained through established frameworks of thought.

Prayer, Mobile Phones, and the Spirituality of Modern Humans

The discussion of spirituality continued during the third session, moderated by Ann Evelin Rahajeng. Awabeen Samsuding from UGM’s Master’s Program in Literature presented a paper titled “Reading Prayer in Joko Pinurbo’s Poetry: The Aesthetics of Irony as a Critique of Modern Human Spirituality.”

Awabeen examined how poet Joko Pinurbo presents prayer through everyday objects and activities. While religious poetry is often associated with solemn and sacred atmospheres, Pinurbo’s poems bring spirituality into spaces closer to modern life, including mobile phones, the human body, and cosmetics.

The research examined three poems: “Doa Orang Sibuk yang 24 Jam Sehari Berkantor di Ponselnya” (2018), “Doa Sebelum Mandi” (2000), and “Doa Seorang Pesolek” (2001).

For Awabeen, irony in these poems is not merely a linguistic device, but an aesthetic strategy for exposing contradictions in human life. Through irony, readers are encouraged to move beyond literal meanings and reconsider habits and beliefs that have long been taken for granted.

In “Doa Orang Sibuk yang 24 Jam Sehari Berkantor di Ponselnya,” for example, the protagonist loses all their contact numbers when their phone breaks but still has God’s number saved. The irony emerges when God reveals that His number is, in fact, the only one the protagonist never calls.

This situation critiques a modern life in which people have unlimited access to communication but may fail to maintain their spiritual connections. The mobile phone, a symbol of connectivity, also reveals the possibility of alienation from what is considered the most fundamental relationship.

Meanwhile, “Doa Sebelum Mandi” was examined through the issues of the body and violence. In Awabeen’s presentation, experiences of violence embedded in the body cannot necessarily be erased through physical cleansing alone.

“Doa Seorang Pesolek,” meanwhile, explores the relationship between the body, cosmetics, and mortality. Through irony, excessive attention to physical appearance is juxtaposed with the reality that human life remains finite.

To examine these issues, Awabeen drew on Y.B. Mangunwijaya’s concept of religiosity and Wayne C. Booth’s theory of stable irony. Using a qualitative approach and close reading, the study sought to demonstrate how poetry can critique modern spirituality without abandoning the everyday objects that are familiar to contemporary life.

Spirituality and Locality in the Malay Manuscript Syair Kupu-Kupu

Also during the third session, Afifah Chairunnisa and Aditya Fiandra from Unand presented a paper titled “Negotiating Spirituality and Locality in the Manuscript Syair Kupu-Kupu.” Their research applied Roland Barthes’s semiotic approach to examine the ideology embedded in the Malay manuscript, identified as Schoemann V 40.

Recognizing the importance of preserving the values contained in ancient manuscripts, the study examined their allegorical and symbolic dimensions, which allow them to be interpreted as more than written texts. The relationship between spirituality and locality was a central concern, particularly in understanding how cultural symbols and values intertwine within a literary work.

Using Roland Barthes’s semiotic approach, the researchers identified several local symbols. Mount Ledang and Mount Anta Sujana, for instance, are interpreted as sacred spaces, while songket textiles, keris daggers, betel leaves, and scarves represent honor, social status, and commitment. Meanwhile, references to Allah and the phrase “with Allah as the reason,” alongside various rituals, demonstrate how spirituality serves as a foundation for human actions and everyday life.

The study also examined how customs, etiquette, and honorific forms of address, such as Datuk, Tuanku, Kakanda, and Adinda, reinforce social structures. These findings indicate that spirituality and locality do not exist independently; rather, they shape one another in maintaining the values, ethics, and worldview of Malay society. Thus, Syair Kupu-Kupu preserves not only literary heritage but also records how Malay society understands the relationship between belief, tradition, and social life.

The discussions in the second and third sessions of ASN 2026 demonstrated various ways of interpreting spirituality in literature. Through ghosts in novels, weird phenomena in horror fiction, irony in poetry, and symbols in Malay manuscripts, the presenters showed that literary works can serve as spaces for questioning the relationships between humans and nature, power, the body, belief, and cultural traditions.

Through their diverse approaches, the discussions positioned literature not merely as an object of aesthetic study, but also as a means of understanding persistent issues in society.

 

Author: Khotibul Umam