Corruption is one of the crucial issues faced by many countries in this world, without exception to the countries in the Southeast Asian region. According to the Transparency International in 2016, countries in the Southeast Asian region still have high Corruption Perception Index (CPI) as follows; Cambodia (156), Laos (123), Vietnam (113), Philippines, Thailand and East Timor (101), with Indonesia (90), while Brunei (41), and Malaysia (55) are considered to be satisfactory. Only Singapore (7), is the only country in the Southeast Asian region with the best CPI and is included in the Top 10 globally. read more

Knowledge on the Southeast Asian region is a crucial topic to be embedded towards Indonesia’s younger generation as early as possible within the formal education system. This matter has become even more important as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has taken place back in 2015. By studying about the Southeast Asian region, it is hoped that the students can have a greater awareness about being part of a nation in the Southeast Asian region, and to introduce them about the ASEAN as an organisation which accommodates countries within this region. read more

“As a region with a wide territory, relations between the periphery and the center of power in ASEAN are often colored by negative stereotypes due to cultural differences. Surprisingly in the midst of a negative stereotype that developed, the outer areas or often referred to as frontier are still continuously built endlessly for the future hopefuls that unfortunately often cause social and environmental problems ”

The term frontier in the social science universe was originally used by Jackson Turner to explain the American mentality. The term is used to describe the customs of American colonists in exploring and building civilizations in the outer regions found in the new continent. The habit arises because of the view that the outermost is an area full of resources but still underdeveloped. Therefore the area needs to be continuously exploited in order to advance so that it can produce profit for human. read more

The Silk Road is an ancient trade route connecting the West and East, a German researcher named Von Richthofen named it The Silk Road in the 18th century CE. The name of the Silk Road is taken because Chinese commodities trade in a lot of silk. Frances Wood in his book The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia says  the path of the Silk Road has many branches from the Chinese Tang Dynasty capital in the east to Rome, the capital of Italy to the west. The line was opened by a general named Zhang Qian from the Han Dynasty. Tracing the road will pass through Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and up to Alexandria Egypt. Also found other branches that pass through Pakistan, Kabul, Afghanistan to the Persian Gulf [1]. read more

The activities of monitoring and evaluation are the essential processes aim to increase the quality performance of an institution. As a Center of Excellence of Higher Education, focuses on social-humanity science, the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS), Universitas Gadjah Mada was monitored and evaluated by three appointed assessors namely, Dr. Triati D.K. Wungu (Institut Teknologi Bandung), Dr. Trio Adiono (Institut Teknologi Bandung), and Dr. E. Bimo Arsono (Universitas Airlangga). The Vice Rector of Research and Community Service of UGM, drg. Ika Dewi Ana, M.Kes, Ph.D initially welcomed the three assessors. read more

The Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) of Gadjah Mada University continues to implement the World Class Professor (WCP) which is mandated by Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenristekdikti).

After the collaboration with Prof. Dr. Thomas Hanitzsch from Ludwig-Maximillian University, Germany and Prof. Dr. Judith Schlehe from Freiburg University, Germany, the senior researchers of CESASS UGM, such as Dr. Budi Irawanto, Dr. Muhammad Sulhan, and Dr. Bevaola Kusumasari visited the faculty of Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the Pacific Media Center (PMC), AUT in New Zealand on 3rd -10th October 2017. read more

Every human being has the right to a peaceful life and to freedom. Unfortunately, these two rights are becoming something extremely difficult to obtain for Rohingya people in Myanmar. After session 17 of the SEA Talks where the history and background of the Rohingya crisis was discussed, CESASS UGM organised a new discussion on the issue through the SEA Talks 18 : “Rohingya: International Human Rights Law Perspective” .

Eko Riyadi, M.H. from the Center for Human Rights Studies of Islam University of Indonesia (UII), and Muhadi Sugiono, M.A and researcher for CESASS UGM, were invited to join the SEA Talks discussion as speakers. The cooperation between the Center for Human Rights Studies of UII and CESASS UGM represents a positive sign of active participation from the two institutions that both focus their work on academic studies regarding Human Rights in Southeast Asia. read more

As a response to the influence of modernization and the numerous agrarian conflicts that are affecting indigenous people in Indonesia, more and more villages are conducting community-based activities, one of those is Mollo village in East Nusa Tenggara. On 20th-23rd September 2017 the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) of Gadjah Mada University had the opportunity to host representatives from six villages (Ajaobaki, Fatukoto, Fatumnasi, Lelobatan, Nefokoko and Tune) that have joined to form the Apanola Atolan Pah Mollo (AAPM) or Pelestari Adat Mollo. The village representatives are conducting a comparative study in villages in Yogyakarta Region, among others, in Nglanggeran, Gunung Kidul District , Dlingo in Bantul District as well as in Pulesari Sleman District. read more

Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies hosted a guest presence from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University, Thailand on Monday (10/07/2017). The meeting was held to discuss the cooperation agenda between CESASS and Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University. This visit also further strengthened the relationship between CESASS and Thammast University which has been collaborating in various programs such as SEA-GATE and Visiting Program.

The visit was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Associate Professor Dumrong Adunyarittigun and Associate Professor Penpimol Premaswad as Associate Dean of Administrative Affairs, Jiraporn Phornprapha as Associate Dean for International Affairs, Assistance Professor Adisorn Muakpimai as Head of Department of History, Philosophy, and English Language and Literature, Torpong Jamtawee as Director of Southeast Asian Studies Program, Natthaphon Tripornchaisak as Director of ASEAN-China Program, Hamam Supriyadi as Lecturer of Indonesian Studies Wannee Khumbumrung as Secretary of Faculty of Liberal Arts, and Orawan Changklungmoh as International Affairs Officer. read more

Myanmar is an Indochina country formerly known as Burma. It has experienced a very long civil war turmoil. Since its independence in 1948, Burma has often faced ethnic conflict that has been criticized by other nations. Aung San Suu Kyi, a statesman who won the Nobel peace prize in 1991, was not considered serious in dealing with the prolonged conflict in his country.

In response to the Rohingya conflict that is currently the world’s attention, and Indonesia, SEA Talks # 17 this time invited Dr. Budiawan, a lecturer in Study Program of Culture and Media of UGM Graduate School as a speaker. The topic presented was “The Rohingya Crisis and the Nationalist-Religious Problems” beginning with the historical tracking of Rohingyas to the assumptions that drive genocide crimes against Rohingyas and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar. This discussion was opened with the exposure of opinion from several Indonesian figures and institutions who asserted that the Rohingya crisis is not only a religious conflict but multidimensional. To quote Dr. Budiawan, “Rohingya crisis is not a religious conflict in the sense of being a conflict let alone solely because of religious differences, but the Rohingya crisis can not be separated from the issue of religious and ethnic differences between ethnic Burmese (Buddhist) and ethnic Rohingya (Muslim). read more