The Chairman of UPT KLI UNS, Rino Ardhian Nugroho,S.Sos., M.T.I., Ph.D., stated they wanted to strengthen tolerance and peace among religions through the event. He added that this was an excellent opportunity to share Ramadan traditions in various countries and hoped the event could improve people’s insights towards cultural differences among the countries.

“We believe that (we) could spread peace and tolerance in this holy month,” Rino stated.

The Cultural Talk was held in collaboration among UNS, Unika Soegijapranata Semarang, and Universitas Islam Sultan Agung (Unissula) Semarang. Cultural Talk series 1 invited M. Taufiq Al Makmun, Natasya Adelia Zehra, and Fatima Fadhel Juma Luthfalla a speaker.

M. Taufiq Al Makmun is a faculty member in the English Language and Literature Program UNS pursuing his doctoral degree at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), Ohio, United States (US). Taufiq shared his Ramadan experiences in the US. He said he is grateful that his university is very friendly towards Muslim students despite their small numbers. He also shared that he did not find praying difficult because his campus provides Muslim students with a praying hall (musala).

The campus is also very open toward students who perform their fasting, and the Muslim community at BGSU organizes tarawih prayer regularly and holds collective iftar using a potluck system. “Although, I could not find kolak easily here,” he said jokingly.

Natasya Adelia Zehra is a student of the Faculty of Engineering Unissula who participates in a student exchange program in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She explained that the main difference in fasting between Indonesia and the Netherlands is that in the Netherlands, she fasts for almost 15—16 hours. But she is also grateful that the local weather was friendly.

“One of the benefits of fasting in the Netherlands is the weather. This month the weather is not too hot. So, during fasting, I could cycle and stay fresh, not like overly sweating, unlike in Semarang,” she said with a laugh.

Fatima Fadhel Juma Luthfalla, a teacher in Duraz Primary Girls School, Bahrain, shared the customs in Bahrain that people treat Ramadan like a festival. People purchase Ramadan stuff and decorate their houses. “One of the unique traditions in Bahrain is Nasfa. It is held in the mid of Ramadan. It is similar to Halloween but for Muslims,” she said. In Nasfa, children visit home to ask for candies and chocolates, and they are full of delight during this event. Humas UNS

Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

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The number of international students enrolled at a university contributes 5% in the assessment indicators of the QS World University Ranking. As one of the universities included in the First National Cluster, UNS is mandated to achieve World Class University predicate, which can be achieved through the QS benchmarks.

During the workshop on Thursday (28/10/2021), the Head of the UNS International Office, Rino Ardhian N., Ph.D., said that international students enrolled at UNS show a significant increase. “Registration for the 2020 academic year recorded a total of 105 applicants. However, the number is decreased in 2021 to 52 applicants because of the pandemic period, while the 2022 academic year increased to 241 applicants from 41 countries. This situation will be a challenge for the academic support staff to provide the best services for international students,” he said in his speech.

The first session of this workshop invites Marieti Debyora Gardiana, S.Si., as the Sub Coordinator of Administration for the UNS International Office. Gardiana presented her research on intercultural communication strategies for the development of the UNS international student service system. The research was conducted using non-APBN funding through the UNS Research and Community Service (P2M) program managed by the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) UNS.

“The idea for this research started from a discussion with Mr. Sulistiyo Joko Wahyudi, ST., along with the other UNS International Office staff colleagues, regarding the challenges in intercultural communication and the strategies that have been implemented to overcome them,” explained Gardiana.

The research, whose team consisted of Rino Ardhian Nugroho, Ph.D., and Albert Muhammad Isrun Naini, Ph.D., was conducted through in-depth interviews with 12 International Affairs Office staff from 5 (five) universities.

The second session was a talk show with three invited speakers, namely, Abdul Rohman, S. Hum., a staff from Diponegoro University International Office; Anas Fauzi, S.Pd., a Staff for Foreign Cooperation in Universitas Negeri Semarang, and Erna Mustikasari, MIKom., the manager of the Student Development Partnership (KNB) scholarship for the UNS Graduate School.

Led by Sulistiyo Joko Wahyudi, ST., the invited speakers share practical tips and tricks in communicating with international students according to their respective experiences. The workshop was attended by approximately 115 participants and was concluded with the distribution of a book entitled ‘Be Curious and Act Globally’ by Yudi Sastroredjo. Humas UNS

Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

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“Art and Design Faculty of Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta wants to support internationalization programs, one of them is introducing Indonesian batik for further on international scale, especially to foreign students, so that Indonesian batik can be more acknowledged, not only from its visual motif but also from its magnificent meaning,” Tiwi Bina Affanti said, as the Chairman of Textile Craft Department on her greeting.

This short course was presented through a series of theories and practical activities about batik which was held in Javanologi Hall. In order to give deeper information about batik, in this activity, the participants were asked to visit Batik Dalem Hardjonegoro, Batik Abstrak Pandono and practicing batik together with the local community called Batik Mekar Jaya at Pilang Village, Sragen. They joined the occasion for six days and get introduced to various kinds of batik; batik klasik (classic), batik pedesaan (countryside), batik tulis (hand-writing), batik cap (stamped), batik lukis (painted), natural dyeing, synthesis coloring, and pelorotan (wax-removing).

Irene, one of the participants coming from Madagascar, who is currently studying visual communication design, said that she was interested in Indonesia culture, which one of the is batik. “I have already been able to speak Bahasa Indonesia since 2014 and I want to know batik making process and to find out more any information relating to batik,” she said.

It is different for Nor Zana, a course participant form Malaysia who studies History said that she wanted to know more about batik because it has various philosophical values and they were related to the life value.[](azaria.red.uns.ac.id)

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