Thailand, November 13–14, 2025 — The SEASREP 2025 Conference marked the 30th anniversary of the Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program (SEASREP). The conference took place at the Institute of East Asian Studies of Thammasat University, Thailand, and gathered scholars, practitioners, and long-time supporters of Southeast Asian Studies. It was not only an academic event but also a celebration of the thirty years of SEASREP’s contribution to the empowerment of scholarship in the region.
Yogyakarta, November 4–5, 2025 — As a multidisciplinary research center, the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) offers interns in the CESASS Internship Program diverse learning experiences. In addition to participating in CESASS’s internal activities, interns are encouraged to take part in various external engagements, such as public lectures, seminars, academic fairs, training, cultural events, exhibitions, and conferences.
This time, one of the international interns from the Vrije Universiteit, Netherlands, Hüdanur Yildirim, had the opportunity to participate in the 13th International Graduate Students and Scholars’ Conference in Indonesia (IGSSCI) with the theme “Navigating the Future: Strengthening Resilience Through Global Collaboration Towards World Peace”, hosted by the Graduate School UGM and held on 4–5 November 2025.
Yogyakarta, November 14, 2025 — Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM), welcomed representatives from the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) for a coordination meeting to review the ongoing internship program hosted under the CESASS Internship Program.
This semester, three ACICIS students are undertaking their internship at CESASS through the Flexible Language Immersion Program (FLIP). As the internship reached its halfway point, the meeting served as an opportunity for both institutions to review the students’ activities, evaluate their progress, identify challenges, and discuss areas for improvement.
Yogyakarta, November 10, 2025 — Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) held a meeting for the handover of financial and activity reports. The meeting was attended by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T., former Director of CESASS, and Dr. Wawan Mas’udi, S.IP., M.P.A., Ph.D., who is currently serving as the Ad Interim Director of CESASS, along with the CESASS staff.
Beyond the handover process, the meeting also served as an opportunity for Dr. Wawan and the CESASS staff to engage in introductory discussions and exchange insights regarding the center’s ongoing activities and direction.
Yogyakarta, October 23, 2025 — The Academic Writing Workshop “Techniques and Ethics: Expanding Publication Opportunities in Scopus Indexing Journal” at the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) continued into its second day. The session began with Dr. Dicky Sofyan from the Graduate School of UGM, who led an engaging and insightful discussion titled “Reality in Empirical Research.” With both in-person and online participants, the session was highly interactive and emphasized the importance of perspective in shaping how we understand the world. Dr. Dicky illustrated this using the well-known selective attention video exercise, where participants focused on counting the number of passes made by players and subsequently missed the unexpected appearance of a person in a gorilla suit. This activity highlighted how our attention can limit what we perceive, reminding researchers that what we observe is only a portion of the broader reality.
Yogyakarta, October 15, 2025 — “How can we avoid unclear research objectives?”
This was the thought-provoking question posed by Dr. Indri Dwi Apriliyanti as she helped participants sharpen their ability to craft clear and focused research questions.
Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) successfully held a workshop on Academic Writing titled “Techniques and Ethics: Expanding Publication Opportunities in Scopus Indexing Journal,” bringing together participants from diverse academic backgrounds, such as Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Airlangga, Universitas Sanata Dharma, UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, and Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, to strengthen their research and writing skills.
Timor-Leste was accepted as a full ASEAN member state during a formal ascension ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. The moment marks the realisation of Timor-Leste’s longstanding aspiration to join the regional body. Timor-Leste submitted its initial application to join ASEAN in 2011 and was granted observer status in 2022. Timor-Leste’s ascension marks the first expansion of ASEAN since Cambodia joined in 1999 and has been broadly lauded as the crowning moment of Malaysia’s 2025 chairmanship.
Yogyakarta, July 21, 2025 — A strategic meeting between the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) and the Department of Southeast Asian Languages and Cultures of National Chengchi University (SEALC NCCU), Taiwan, took place at CESASS UGM.
CESASS was represented by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. (Director), Drs. Muhadi Sugiono, M.A. (Head of Research, Education, and Cooperation Division), Dr. phil. Vissia Ita Yulianto (Head of Program and Publication Division), and Dr. Arif Akhyat, M.A. (Affiliated researcher with an expertise on history of Southeast Asian Studies). SEALC NCCU was represented by Prof. Dr. Chao Chin-Chi (Acting Dean of the College of Foreign Languages and Literature & Chair of SEALC), Prof. Dr. Jiang Cuifen (Director of the Chinese Language Teaching Centre), Dr. Silvia Rehulina Ginting (Assistant Professor and Head of the Indonesian Language and Cultures Study Program), and Mr. YuanTing Lim (Operations Manager of the Center for Southeast Asian Socio-Cultural Studies).
Yogyakarta, June 23, 2025 — Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) officially opened the 2025 Summer Course Program with the theme “Smart City, Digital Transformation and Society in Southeast Asia”. The opening ceremony was held at 09.00 AM (GMT+7) in a hybrid format—online via Zoom and onsite at the Indonesia Room, 2nd Floor, Pusat Antar Universitas (PAU) Building, UGM.
The program was officially opened by the Director of CESASS UGM and Program Coordinator, Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T., who also delivered welcoming remarks. In her remarks, Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. expressed her appreciation to all the summer course speakers, who are colleagues from 12 countries: Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, China, Germany, Finland, Romania, Nigeria, the Netherlands, the United States, and Brazil. She also acknowledged the contributions of domestic colleagues from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), and Universitas Indonesia (UI). Appreciation was extended to the Directorate of Partnerships and Global Relations UGM for providing a grant that facilitated the successful organization of this summer course for the second consecutive year. The Faculty of Geography UGM was also recognized for its collaboration and support. The opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Muhammad Kamal, S.Si., M.GIS., Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Geography UGM, and Prof. Dr. Puji Astuti, S.Si., M.Sc., Director of Partnerships and Global Relations. Several speakers of the program were also present and had the opportunity to share a few words with the participants.
Bali, January 14–16, 2025 — The Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) successfully held the 17th International Asian Urbanization Conference (IAUC). The conference, themed “Rethinking Sustainable Urban Development and Urban Futures in the Digital Age,” took place at Prime Plaza Hotel Sanur, Bali. The IAUC was chaired by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T., Director of CESASS UGM. The event was supported by the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA) and the Faculty of Geography UGM. It attracted significant international academic attention, with a total of 59 abstracts, 31 presenters, and 6 participants from 9 countries: Indonesia, the United States, Germany, Romania, France, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and Taiwan.
