Dengan berakhirnya jabatan Prof. Dr.phil. Hermin Indah Wahyuni, M.Si. sebagai Kepala Pusat Studi Sosial Asia Tenggara (PSSAT) UGM periode 2015-2022 yang selanjutnya mulai dengan tgl 1 April 2023 jabatan diemban oleh Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T., maka pada hari Senin, 22 Mei 2023, dilaksanakan acara penyerahan laporan kegiatan dan keuangan. Acara yang diselenggarakan di lantai 1 Kantor PSSAT UGM ini dihadiri oleh Prof. Dr.phil. Hermin Indah Wahyuni, M.Si. (Kepala PSSAT UGM periode 2015-2022), Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. (Kepala PSSAT UGM periode 2022-2025), Drs. Muhadi Sugiono, M.A. (Plt. Kepala PSSAT UGM periode 2011-2015), beserta seluruh staf PSSAT UGM.
2023
Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T., dikukuhkan sebagai Guru Besar dalam bidang Ilmu Geografi Perkotaan dari Fakultas Geografi Universitas Gadjah Mada. Pidato pengukuhan dilaksanakan pada hari Selasa 16 Mei 2023 di Balai Senat Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta dengan judul “Ruang Kota Masa Depan: Implementasi Konsep Smart City untuk Smart Sustainable Urban Development”.
Pada pidatonya, Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. menyampaikan pemikiran terkait dengan ruang, geografi perkotaan, dan pengelolaan perkotaan dengan mengakomodasi lompatan kemajuan pemanfaatan Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi (TIK) atau Information Communication and Technology (ICT) serta penerapan konsep kota cerdas (smart city) untuk pengembangan perkotaan berkelanjutan yang smart (smart sustainable urban development). Disamping dalam pidatonya Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. menyampaikan bahwa: “Perubahan konsep ruang, pergerakan, dan desentralisasi lokasi akibat pemanfaatan TIK telah merubah konsep ruang dan pergerakan yang selama ini didominasi oleh ruang fisik dan bergeser ke pemanfaatan ruang virtual.” Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. juga mengatakan bahwa: “Praxis menunjukkan pada era TIK, jarak fisik atau jarak geografis tidak lagi menjadi faktor dalam hubungan antar manusia. Disrupsi TIK telah menggeser beberapa teori dan konsep terkait dengan space, place, location, distance, distribution, interaction in space, spatial relation, spatial interaction, dan change in space.”
On Tuesday (28/03/2023), an international relation student Gadjah Mada University, named Shynna Nor M. Siawan presented her advocacy project entitled “Provision to ban FGM (Sunat Perempuan) in Indonesia to Global Arena”. The sharing session is part of intern’s activity in Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies Gadjah Mada University. She shared this topic because she want to spread awareness that FGM has become big issue in the world.
At the beginning of her presentation, Shynna said that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Sunat Perempuan is an ancient tradition of removing the female external genitalia (performed on children) with no medical prescription. Commonly, it is happened in islamic countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Africa, ect. They do FGM for some reason like purity, cleanness, and control sexual desire for woman. Unfortunately, This practice has been passed down from generation to generation. Many young women end up practicing FGM because they have been indoctrinated that it is the right thing to do.
On March 21/2023, a weekly sharing session via zoom was conducted by Mr.Aniello Iannone who comes from Italy. He presented and lead the sharing session with his Master’s Degree thesis topic, “Responding to Anti-human trafficking: The Role and Challenges of NGOs in Indonesia”. He is been a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Science in Universitas Diponegoro (Undip) Semarang and a researcher who explores various topics focusing on democracy, politics, political economy, and international relations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia regions. His thesis was intended to find out the challenges faced by NGOs that are working on Human Trafficking issues, the law enforcement towards anti-human trafficking in Indonesia, and the motives of people who got trafficked. He used qualitative research analysis, specifically the interview method, and 3-5 NGOs in Indonesia had been interviewed.
On 15 March 2023, CESASS student interns conducted a weekly sharing session at the PAU Building. Putu Prisca Lusiani, a postgraduate student from the International Relations Department at Fisipol UGM, volunteered as the speaker for this week’s session, titled “Indonesia’s Chairmanship in ASEAN 2023: What to Expect?” She considered the topic relevant because Indonesia is the largest member country of ASEAN. Thus, other member countries expect Indonesia to be able to solve several problems that have happened over the decades, including the political instability in Myanmar.
Last Friday (3/3), a weekly agenda known as the “sharing session” was held for CESASS internship students. The speaker for the week was Wiweko Rahadian Abyapta, an undergraduate student from the Faculty of Law at Universitas Gadjah Mada, who is also an intern from the first batch of this year. Wiweko presented a topic titled “Sustainable Agriculture in the Philippines” from a policy-making perspective. He shared this topic because he won Best Policy Paper at the Young ASEAN Leaders Policy Initiative 2023.
On Monday (6/3/2023), an intern named Dyny Wahyu Seputri, who is pursuing a Master’s degree in American Studies at Gadjah Mada University, presented her thesis research entitled “Towards a Transnational View: Pencak Silat in the United States of America” in a forum at the PSSAT office. The forum was the 39th Seachat, which is one of the internal activities at PSSAT. The speaker presented her ideas on the direction of the development of Pencak Silat martial arts in the United States.
On 9th February, 2023, an intern, Yumna Amalia Maghfirah, presented about the Philippines Beauty Pageant industry and how it helps the country itself diplomatically and economically, and how the Filipinos support the beauty pageants. SEA CHAT #38 was attended by 13 Indonesian interns and 3 international interns from Myanmar and the Philippines.
The speaker started the presentation by explaining how the beauty pageant emerged from the ancient Greek and 19th century until the 21st century through different major shifts year by year. Later in the 1950s, this developed as decolonisation and rising nationalism. When the beauty pageant became an example of “women empowering women”, and with the purpose of using femininity to represent world issues and raising awareness for culture, the Philippines also applied this as national aspiration.
On Friday (24/02/2023), a student from Myanmar shared her presentation about “Reflection on Childhood” in sharing session as a part of intern’s activity in CESASS office. Her name was Phoo Wai Yan Myint, an international student majoring International Relation in Gadjah Mada University and she shares her opinion about how childhood experience has an impact on behaviour of an adult. This sharing session attended by Indonesian interns and 4 international students from Myanmar and Phillipines.
On Thursday (26/01/2023), Center for Southeast Asia Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) was honoured to welcome guests from from National Cheng Chi University (NCCU), Taiwan (ROC): Prof. Herng-Su, Ph.D., the vice president of Taiwan University System (台灣聯大系統副校長) and Prof. Yao-Chueh Juan (Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures) National Chengchi University. This visit is the first time to UGM.
NCCU guests continued their visit for a courtesy meeting with UGM rector, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, and Center for ASEAN Study Center.
Attendants from CESASS were director Prof. Dr. phil. Hermin Indah Wahyuni, researchers: Drs. Muhadi Sugiono, M.A., Dr. phil. Vissia Ita Yulianto, Drs. Muh. Arif Rahman, M. Hum., Ph.D., staff, and intern of CESASS.