As citizens of modern Southeast Asia, we often take for granted nation-state that in fact is a new concept. Not only it is contemporary, border that demarcate states both on water and land is innately artificial and porous. Department of History, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM initiated “International Summer School on Southeast Asian Studies; Transnational History: Becoming a Cosmopolitan Historian” to promote perspective that transcends border for young and potential researchers. The summer school took place at Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada from 27th August– 6th September 2018. Participants of this summer school are undergraduate and graduate students as well as young lecturers from Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam. This summer school also incorporates Indonesian students from state universities throughout the country. read more

Organized by History Department, Faculty of Cultural Sciences and Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Transnational history has produced a significant body of work since its development in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This approach owed its inception as part from the shift from political history that was comfortably located within the national narrative toward social and cultural history in the 1970s and 1980s that developed perspectives such as race, ethnicity, class, and gender that was localized and non-national. These developments, unfortunately, had worried historians because of the parochial and antiquarian nature of local histories. The early 1990s and 2000s saw the publication of David Thelen’s Toward the Internationalization of American History and Thomas Bender’s Rethinking American History in Global Age from which efforts to provincialize and denationalize American history has pointed the way for a true dialogue of experts from all parts of the world in imagining differential spaces other than that of the nation-state. This is needed in order to construct an American historiography that could meet the current needs of a globalizing world and place it with emphasis on a perspective of the future. Instead of focusing on local phenomenon, the emphasis was on understanding social, cultural and political ones as a transnational process; reconceptualizing identities, communities, and products within different transnational framework; for instance, Hollywood movies as it was received and recreated on other parts of the globe and thus seeing it not merely as an American cultural product, but a wider globalizing phenomenon.  Bruce Mazlish and Ralph Buultjen’s edited volume Conceptualizing Global History expands this further by bringing forth ideas in developing global narratives of local or non-national identities and spaces. Two approaches that were identified by Thelen has been to focus on either borderlands, as liminal spaces in which national units undergo transformative shifts, and the comparative approach, not merely as a means for national historians to compare each other’s narratives but to create new perspective altogether that is both national and international. read more

On Saturday 9th September 2017, Department of History UGM held a “family gathering” in Multimedia Room, Margono Building, Faculty of cultural science UGM. This event was a form of collaboration between department and Keluarga Alumni Sejarah Gadjah Mada (KASAGAMA) which then also involved students as the executor. This event was one of the series of welcoming new students of History 2017. The theme of this event is “History and Prospects of the World of Work”.

There were three resource persons in this event who shared their experiences about the prospects for the world of work in the field of historical studies. They are Zakaria Effendi, Rina Widyastuti, and Sambodo. Rina Widyastuti, who now has a career at Tempo, explained that her knowledge supports her profession, which is currently pursuing journalism. In History, she is required to always be diligent in writing and that is what makes her accustomed to working under pressure. read more

Colonial education was always synonymous with ethical politics. A policy of repaying the colony’s land, rather than previously exploiting it. This resulted in historiography discussing colonial education always focused on the government. That education cannot be born without government intervention – the Dutch East Indies. This was stated by Kirsten Kamphius in a seminar entitled ‘Our Girls’: Taman Siswa as an example Gendered education in the Netherland Indies 1922-1942, on Wednesday (19/7) in the Multimedia Room of the Margono Building, FIB UGM. read more

Talk with the alumni of the history department, Universitas Gadjah Mada, which was named “Alumni Menyapa” was held in the Multimedia room, 2nd floor of Margono Building FIB UGM, on Monday, 15th May. The talk with history alumni was the inaugural edition and took the theme ‘History and the World of Work’. The activity, which was packaged in the format of a talk show and interactive dialogue, was a work program of the Gadjah Mada History Alumni Family (KASAGAMA) in collaboration with the Department of History, Faculty of Cultural Science UGM. read more

Leiden-based senior researcher at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian Caribbean Studies (KITLV), Marieke Bloembergen, on Thursday (20/4) gave a public lecture on India’s scientific networks, religion and spiritual movements. The public lecture was held by the Department of History, FIB UGM, in Meeting Room I, Purbatjaraka Building, FIB UGM. This public lecture has the theme “Beyond A Dutch Empire, Beyond Indonesia? : Scholarly and Religious Networks, Spiritual Movement and Moral Geographies Of Greater India Across Decolonization, 1920’s-1980’s” and was attended by FIB students from various strata. read more

The exploitation of woman as sexual slaves during the Japanese occupation was a series of planned and organized system. During the Greater East Asia war, Japan realized the basic need for soldiers. It was possible at that time to use indigenous women as ‘comfort women’. This was stated by Katherine McGregor in a public lecture held by the Department of History FIB UGM, on Tuesday (25/4), in the Multimedia Room, Margono building lt. 2, FIB UGM.

On that occasion Katherine gave a public lecture with the topic “Piecing Together the Threads of the So-called ‘Comfort Women’ System During the Japanese Occupation of Indonesia”. Katherine, a woman who also a professor at Melbourne University, explained in detail about sexual slavery system during Japanese occupation. “So, what happened to the sexual slavery during Japanese Occupation was something that was planned”, said Katherine. read more

“Now answer me, is there any category beside literature sociology?” ask Bambang Purwanto to the students of the doctoral program in the Department of History UGM. They explained their plan for the dissertation proposal in front of him. Bambang views their research proposal still has some weakness and is less contextual. This was delivered at the public lecture about dissertation writing themed “From Research Question Proposal to Thesis Writing” on Wednesday (19/04) in Meeting Room I, Poerbatjaraka Building, FIB UGM. read more

One of the milestones of national revival came from STOVIA. The Javanese medical school became important in the Indonesian nationalist movement. The reason was based on the emergence of Boedi Utomo on May 20, 1908, whose initiators were mostly STOVIA students. This was stated by Prof. Hans Pols from the University of Sidney in a public lecture themed “The Indonesians Medical Profession in the Dutch East Indies: Medicine, Nationalism and Decolonization” by the Department of History UGM on Monday (10/4) at FIB UGM. According to Hans, the medical student at STOVIA at the same time not only learned about health but also about nationalism and the importance of independence. “At that point, then the medical profession had a vital role at that time,” Hans said. read more

On Monday (3/4) Marjolein van Pagee, the founder of Histori Bersama, had the opportunity to attend a discussion held by the UGM History Department, in the Multimedia room, second floor, Margono building, FIB UGM. Marjolein tells about the Joint History and the historical relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia. “Indonesia and the Netherlands, admit it or not, they are connected to each other because of colonization, and it’s not a short time,” said Marjolein.

According to Marjolein, a shared understanding of the history of the two countries is very much needed. It is useful for healing the wounds of the two countries’ past. Furthermore, the woman who studied colonial history at Leiden University explained the reason for the presence of the Joint History. The foundation exists as a bridge connecting the two countries. In the end, Marjoleine hopes that what she does can help to avoid the misunderstanding of the history of the two countries that is still ongoing. For him, true reconciliation comes after understanding. read more