On June 1, 2024 from 4 to 6 pm in the courtyard of Soegondo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, Palmerah, Yuk! together with Perpustra continued their efforts to enlighten others through literacy discussions with Maman Suherman and Kalis Mardiasih as speakers. They invited literacy communities and publishers as parties who participate in fighting for the literacy movement. Perpustra UGM together with Palmerah, Yuk! has held a discussion related to efforts in nurturing literacy. This discussion highlighted the importance of access to books and efforts to make books as living objects that actively meet their readers, in order to continue our struggle to enlighten each other.

IMBASADI stands for the Association of Regional Language and Literature Students throughout Indonesia. On 17 to 19 May 2024, IMBASADI held a competition attended by students of regional literature study programs from all universities in Indonesia. The competition was held at the Mpu Kuturan Singaraja State Hindu College. Of course, the Javanese Literature study program owned by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University did not want to miss the opportunity to make the department, faculty, and university proud. They participated in the competition and managed to get many championships so that they were crowned the overall champion. The following is a list of student names and the championships they won:

– 2nd place in National Scientific Writing Competition (Haryo Untoro & M. Siswoyo)

– 1st place in Culture Poster (Meifira Arini Pitaloka)

– 3rd Place in Typography (M. Rafi Nur Fauzy)

– Imbasadi Female Runner Up (Ganes Larasati)

– Imbasadi Male Finalist (Rafif Wicaksono)

– GENERAL CHAMPION

Congratulations and sincere appreciation to the Javanese Literature Study Program for the outstanding achievement of winning the overall champion! This achievement is a testament to the dedication, hard work, and incredible collaborative spirit of the entire team and members of the study program. May this achievement be a driving force to continue to develop and strive for excellence in the field of Javanese literature, and become an inspiration for future generations. Continue to maintain the spirit of togetherness, innovation, and dedication that has become the foundation of success. Congratulations on this brilliant achievement, and may success continue to accompany you in the future!

The competition that the Tourism & BSO Sastra Oebah Team participated in on May 15-17, 2024 was called the Indonesian Tourism Competition. The competition was held at Bandung State Polytechnic. For the competition itself, as the title suggests, it is related to tourism. However, there are several general branches of competition, one of which is creative dance. The participants were spread throughout Indonesia, although not all of them participated. At that time, the team of students from the Faculty of Humanities, Gadjah Mada University won 3rd place out of 12 participants. Creative Dance Competition is a talent test that focuses on the creativity of contemporary dance movements including harmonization between wiraga, wirasa, wirama, weitra, accompanied by traditional music and modern Indonesian music. With the theme “Revive The Culture of The Land a Thousand Islands”, this competition aims to create a creative dance where participants can perform extinct traditional Indonesian dance performances with modern vibes.

Sastra Oebah is a semi-autonomous body of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, which is engaged in dance (traditional classical and contemporary creations). In 2023, Sastra Oebah was formed to become the new identity and face of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences. The beginning of the naming of Sastra Oebah itself is because it is in the Faculty of Letters (Faculty of Cultural Sciences) and Oebah means “moving” which is then elaborated as a symbol that BSO Sastra Oebah is a BSO engaged in dance. The establishment of Sastra Oebah was seen by several students who have potential in the field of dance. In this case, Sastra Oebah is able to realize several implied questions related to the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, which is identical to the variety of cultures in it, but does not have an institution/community engaged in this field (traditional classical dance and contemporary creations in particular). The mission of Sastra Oebah itself was formed by not being closed, which means that it is only open to students of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences. However, Sastra Oebah opens as many opportunities as possible for non-faculty students if they have an interest in joining Sastra Oebah. interested in joining as part of Sastra Oebah.

Jakarta, June 8, 2024 – The Korean Language and Culture Program at UGM sent five of its students to participate in the final round of the 22nd K-Speech Oratory Contest Indonesia, organized by the Indonesia Korea Speech Eloquence Association and held at the National University (UNAS). The five students were Ida Ayu Nastiti, Anggita Lintang Herdiwan, Nasywa Athallah Putri, Firmansyah Haryo Yudhoyono, and Naufal Java Fakhriansyah.

The event began with a performance by UNAS students and was followed by Big Group Oratory Speeches from each university, including UGM, which successfully submitted its Big Group Oratory Speech via video. The event continued with the introduction of the judges and remarks from relevant parties. After these segments, 27 individual category participants performed in the order determined by the organizers, followed by performances from 7 team category participants. While awaiting the judges’ evaluations, the event included a door prize distribution session and an overall evaluation of the participants’ performances. The event concluded with the awarding ceremony and a group photo session.

Students from the Korean Language and Culture Program achieved several awards in this competition. Anggita Lintang Herdiwan won First Place in the individual category, while Nasywa Athallah Putri, Firmansyah Haryo Yudhoyono, and Naufal Java Fakhriansyah won Third Place in the team category.

This competition provides a platform for students to showcase their potential, particularly their ability to speak Korean in public. This skill is one of the potentials that the Korean Language and Culture Program at UGM aims for each of its students to develop. Certainly, this achievement is due to the students’ courage and the support provided by all the program’s lecturers.

The Association of Middle Eastern Cultural Studies Students at UGM (IMABTA UGM) and the Indonesian Student Association for the Middle East and Africa (PPIDK Timtengka) collaborated in organizing the event “Middle Eastern Issues Discussion” with the theme “Identity and Exile in Contemporary Arabic Literature”. This event was held on Thursday, June 7, 2024, in a hybrid format. The Middle Eastern Issues Discussion featured Middle Eastern Cultural Analyst and Gadjah Mada University Lecturer Dr. Hindun, M.Hum., Head of the Intercultural Department Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M.Hum., and Secretary of the Intercultural Department UGM Dr. Mahmudah, M.Hum. Participants in this event included students from Indonesia as well as countries in the Middle East, including Egypt, Jordan, and South Africa.

Dr. Hindun explained that literature is shaped by the mindset of the society around it. One example is the literature written by Mahmoud Darwish. Darwish wrote about the condition of Palestine when it was occupied by Israel. In addition, this Arabic Literature Lecturer provided another example from Khalil Gibran’s work titled “Al-Ajnihah Al-Mutakassirah”. In it, Gibran narrates the events he experienced in his homeland with a distinctive language style, allowing readers to feel what he experienced. From these examples, it is evident that literature can showcase the identity and exile of the author. Literature can serve as a medium or window to view various social issues occurring in the Middle East.