On Thursday (26/01), Center of Southeast Asia Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) welcomed representatives from National Cheng Chi University (NCCU), Taiwan, Prof. Heng-Su, Ph.D and Prof. Yao-Chueh Juan. They were receiving warm welcome from Prof. Dr. phil. Hermin Indah Wahyuni, Drs. Muhadi Sugiono, M.A., Dr. phil. Vissia Itta Yulianto, Drs. Muh. Arif Rahman, M.Hum., Ph.D, staff, and intern of CESASS. This visitation initiated ‘potential’ academic collaboration between NCCU and UGM.  read more

On Thursday 05 January 2023 the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies at Gadjah Mada University received a visitation from The University of Tennessee and GEO Fisipol UGM. The visit was carried out by Paul K. Gellert Professor who came from the Department of Sociology College of Arts and Science at The University of Tennessee and was accompanied by his student Kieran Cole Phelps and Giuliana Nicole Castillo.

This was the first visit of The University of Tennessee at the Center of Southeast Asian Social Studies. The visit was intended to give basic knowledge of each research center and to expand the academic connections between The University of Tennessee and academic institutions in Southeast Asia, especially those at Gadjah Mada University. This visit was accompanied by Drs. Muhadi Sugiono as the PSSAT head of the Research and Cooperation Division and a lecturer at the department of international relations at Gadjah Mada University and Professor Jian-bang-Deng lecturer at Tamkang University. read more

On December, 20th 2022, at 10.00 (GMT +7) Center of Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) Universitas Gadjah Mada held an online seminar, the 46th South East Asia Talk (SEA Talk). This seminar was inviting Made Supriatma, one of the visiting fellows at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, whose presentation titled “Dividing The Electorates: Will Indonesian Politicians Exploit Identity in 2024 Election”.

This seminar discussed the role of identity that is embedded in each individual and its potential to trigger and to influence the individual as voters during the general election. Indonesia’s social-cultural landscape, which is diverse, isn’t exceptional from the identity narratives during election campaigns.  read more

On Monday, October 31st, 2022, the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) held a welcoming meeting for Thomas Bartley, a student intern from the University of Adelaide, Australia. Thomas will participate in the internship program at CESASS from November to the end of December to gain experience in research and build networks with Southeast Asia social studies researchers and experts in CESASS.

The meeting started with a brief introduction led by Rizki Dwi Wibawa, CESASS Cooperation Staff, who greeted the intern and explained the research activities and work of the Center, as well as the opportunities provided by the internship. An introduction to fellow student interns and other members of the Center was conducted afterward. They shared their cultural background and exchanged views about their research interests. read more

On October 6, Dr. Abdul Gaffar Karim from Department of Politics and Government Gadjah Mada University delivered a lecture under the title of Indonesian Politics: A Brief Introduction to the interns of PSSAT UGM. 

The lecturer started with describing the social and geographical factors which exercise a substantial impact on the Indonesian political system. The dispersity of islands and diversity of religions and ethnicities can be named among these objective circumstances. 

Later on, Dr. Abdul Gaffar gave a brief outlook on the political history of Indonesia and analyzed the existing trends. For instance, the lecturer stressed the so-called “double-majority” factor. It implies that if one is Muslim and Javanese, they have far higher chances of being elected as governor/president.  read more

Last Friday (30/9), Center of South East Social Studies (CESASS) held a sharing session by an Indonesian Intern about popular culture in Indonesia such as music, movie, fashion, and memes. This sharing session was attended by CESASS interns both local and Russian. This sharing session was presented by Ilham Ramadhan and Dinda Bariqul Zahfa as an intern at CESASS.

Ilham Ramadhan as the first presenter explained music and memes in Indonesia and start with the definition of popular culture. Popular culture is a mass production and consumption process of cultural products mainly by the middle and lower-class society. In the Indonesian context, popular culture plays the political, moral, and ideological dynamics in Indonesian society. Music, Film, Fashion, and Memes were chosen in this sharing session to explain the diversity and dynamics of Indonesian popular culture.  read more

On Friday (30/09), the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) held a Sharing Session to share about Aceh with friends from Russia. This Sharing Session will be delivered by Acehnese who is interning at CESASS UGM, namely Muhammad Naufal Rizky, Lyska Coyoga, and Muhammad Zaky Al Aqsa.

This sharing will be specifically talking about Dutch History in Aceh, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Aceh Tsunami, and Acehnese cuisine. Aceh is a special region in Indonesia where almost three and a half centuries ago it was occupied by Dutch. But, only in the 20th century could they successfully conquer Aceh. That is because the Aceh kingdom had a lot of power back in the early 15th century. The Aceh kingdom had built a very good relationship with the Ottoman empire and many other kingdoms in Europe such as the British and France kingdom. The presentation continued with an explanation of the history of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh, which was an experience that many Acehnese could not forget. Talking about GAM cannot be separated from the Tsunami because for the people of Aceh, the Tsunami is believed to be God’s way to solve the problem of the Aceh war between GAM and the Indonesian government. Finally, the presentation explained the cuisine in Aceh. Aceh is famous for spicy and savory foods such as Mie Aceh, food of Kuah Pliek, Manuk Labakh, Baku Pinget, Sie reboh and Le Bu Peudah. read more

Written by: Dmitry Svechnikov & Lia Korotkova

On September 30 2022, Wisnu Prasetya Utamo, S.IP., M.A., delivered a lecture on the Media Landscape Indonesia. The lecture was visited the representatives of Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies. The event was sponsored by FISIPOL UGM (Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM) and aimed at increasing the awareness about the work of the media in Indonesia. 

Wisnu put the issue into a broader perspective and gave the context of the work of the media. He told about the system of media as well as the kinds of media, distinguishing between state and non-state media groups. Besides, Wisnu touched upon the biggest media holdings and their main characteristics. According to Wisnu, nowadays mass media in Indonesia have to face quite a few challenges. Among them are the lack of funding for local media, political bias in the interests of this or that political party or corporation.  read more

On Wednesday (09/22), the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) continued to hold the Southeast Asian Chat (SEA Chat), a discussion agenda that talks about social issues happening around Southeast Asia. As for the speaker, this 31st SEA Chat invited Vu Duc Hoa, an ASEAN Master in Sustainability Management Program student from UGM. On this occasion, Hoa presented his research, titled “Corporate Social Responsibility in Vietnam: Case of Domestic Leading Pharmaceutical Companies.”  read more

On 14th of September 2022, Center of Southeast Asia Social Studies (CESSAS) paid a visit to ASEAN Studies Center (ASC), a research institution focused on ASEAN at Gadjah Mada University. Located in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences building on the 2nd floor of room 209 UGM, the visit was carried out as a form of a series of international internship activities at CESSAS.

This visit aims to introduce international interns at CESSAS to one of the research institutions at UGM, especially regarding ASEAN, during the visit consisting of four international interns from Russia and two local interns from CESSAS accompanied by CESSAS Cooperation Staff during the visit to ASC. read more