On Tuesday (30/05), the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CESASS) UGM hosted Filipino international relations student, Shynna Nor M. Siawan, in the Country In Focus. CIF is a discussion to get to know Southeast Asian countries from a native perspective. Shynna shared her story about the background and culture of the Philippines in front of the college students.

On the second floor of the PSSAT building, Syhnna opened her presentation by introducing the geographical location of the Philippines. Like Indonesia, the Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago. There are 7,600 islands so there are many beach attractions worth visiting. Syhnna recommended El Nido and Puerto Pricesa in Palawan Province. If you prefer mountain views, she recommended Mayon Volcano and Chocolate Hills. read more

Last Friday (26/05), Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CESASS) UGM organised Country In Focus, a discussion agenda to get to know Southeast Asian countries from the natives. In this session, Thoon Nadi Lynn, an international communication student from Myanmar, introduced the beauty of Myanmar’s culture and history. Prof. Dr Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. as the Head of CESASS  was also present to give a speech on 2nd floor of CESASS building. 

Geographically, Myanmar is located in the west of Southeast Asia. Most of its citizens are Buddhist so there are many Pagodas and Viharas. In his presentation, Thoon also introduced popular tourist attractions in Myanmar, such as the heart-shaped lake Rih Lake, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia Hkakabo Razi, the beautiful white sandy beach Ngapali Beach, and the historic palace Mandalay Palace.  read more

On Wednesday (24/05), Center for Southeast Asia Social Studies (CESASS) UGM welcomed students from Kajian Organisasi Internasional (KOIN), Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Yogyakarta. The 15 students were welcomed by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati as the Director of CESASS. 

The purpose of this visit is to know the profile of PSSAT, forms of cooperation, as well as challenges and obstacles while working in the field of research. In addition, students also learnt the process of social studies and the variety of research produced by PSSAT.  read more

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. read more

Prof. Paul K. Gellert Kieran and two students, Cole Phelps and Giuliana Nicole Castillo from Department of Sociology College of Arts and Science, University of Tennessee, US gave a lively discussion in Cesass during their visit at the research center on Thursday 05 January 2023.

Following introductions, both sides shared experiences and challenges on Southeast East Asian studies which continued to be contested in current geopolitical atmosphere. Notwithstanding, those factors attract more scholars from multidisciplinary studies both from international and regional Southeast Asia to do research on not only ASEAN but Southeast Asia in general. 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