Being a historian in the period so called as the Industrial Revolution 4.0 – with IT as the main trend, there are certainly many new challenges that must be faced, one of which is Transnational History. Transnational History is not a new thing, but nowdays, transnational become interesting issues to discuss. Placing a local or a national history as part of global history will bring its own appeal, especially for those who have an interest in transnational issues.
On July 22 – August 2, 2019, the Department of History, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada recently held a 2nd International Summer School with the theme “Becoming a Transnational Scholar of Southeast Asia”. This summer school was attended by 35 participants from various countries around the world. The involvement of the participants with different backgrounds has added value to this program. During the program participants can exchange information about history in their country with another perspectives.
This program brought many experts who were not only from Indonesia, but also from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Australia, Japan and the Netherlands. The first day began with remarks given by the chairman of the committee as well as the secretary of the graduate history program of UGM, Dr. Farabi Fakih and Prof. Dr. Kathrine Mc Gregor from University of Melbourne, Australia as well as representative of partner universities in the summer school program. The program was officially opened by the Vice Dean Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Dr. Nur Saktiningrum.
Prof. Dr. Danny Wong Tze Ken from the University of Malaya started the lecture part of the program by a presentation on “Chinese in Southeast Asia in a Transnational Context”. Prof. Dr. Jos Gommans from Leiden University continue with the lecture theme “Provincializing Europe – Globalizing (Southeast) Asia”. During this program, participants will study in class and field. The field activity was held on 27-28 July by visiting six places around Yogyakarta, Cemeti Institute for Art and Society, Ketandan Village and Fuk Ling Miau Temple, Mendut Monestry, and Watukodok Beach respectively. Participants also had the opportunity to conduct group research with selected themes and present them at the end of the program.
The summer school program was officially closed by the Head of the Department of History, Dr. Sri Margana by giving a certificate of participation to all participants and committees. With the implementation of this summer school activity, students in the fields of history and social science are expected to be critically involved with transnational phenomena by analyzing their manifestations in various parts of the world.