SEMARANG – Masters in Literature Study Program of Faculty of Humanities, Diponegoro University cooperated with the Universiti Brunei Darussalam to strengthen the synergy of two universities. The cooperation includes the implementation of scientific activities such as international seminars, research, and studies on the development of literary science.
This is one of the steps to answer challenges from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia which encourages collaboration between universities based on each study program, both at home and abroad. The program is also an integral part of Undip’s vision as a World Class University (WCU).
The Head of Masters in Literature Study Program of Faculty of Humanities Undip, Dr. M. Suryadi, M. Hum., said that as an initial form of cooperation between the Undip and the Universiti Brunei Darussalam is to organize an international webinar. “Webinars are the starting point of cooperation that will be established by both parties for future academic activities. This is the commitment of Masters in Literature Study Program in establishing relationships between universities, for the development of scientific activities and facilitating students to gain further insight,” said Suryadi, on Friday (11/5/2021).
According to him, in the future the Masters in Literature Study Program will continue to expand its cooperation with various parties, in order to optimize the function of the study program as an institution which has prospective scientists in the field of culture, especially literature. This means that there will be more study programs and universities that will become partners for the Masters in Literature of Undip in facing global challenges.
He emphasized that collaboration between universities is very important because universities and study programs are like organizations that must collaborate so that they can develop. In the practice of providing quality education, each has advantages and disadvantages. Therefore collaboration is carried out to improve the quality of higher education.
Regarding the fields of collaboration, although the basis is academic activities, it can also cover other fields such as human resources and systems. “What is certain is that cooperation is carried out for mutual progress,” he added.
Regarding the problem of the Covid-19 pandemic that is currently happening, Suryadi emphasized that the collaboration will continue even though activities must be carried out online. Conferences, meetings, or study discussions are temporarily conducted online, and if conducted offline the implementation of strict health protocols must be done. In the near future, Faculty of Humanities Undip will strengthen cooperation with Hankuk University of South Korea.
In the first program with Universiti Brunei Darussalam, a webinar was held featuring Dr. Kathrina Haji M. Daud, M.A. from the University of Brunei Darussalam and Dr. Ratna Asmarani, M.Ed., M.Hum from Diponegoro University. In the event which took place in October 2021, Dr. Sukarjo Waluyo, M.Hum from Masters in Literature of Undip was acting as moderator.
The webinar entitled “Reading Contemporary Literature: Between Gender, Popular Literature, and Cross-Culturalism” was enough to steal the attention of the participants because the issues raised were very interesting. Each resource person has a unique view on gender issues which are the main topics in the webinar. The discussion took place in a warm and critical atmosphere, while the presentation of each resource person was delivered in an elegant manner.
Dr. Sukarjo Waluyo, M. Hum as the moderator noted that foreign languages are not a barrier in organizing webinars. It was proven by the bilingual discussion that could be done well and the participants were enthusiastic in asking questions to the speakers related to the topics raised. (PR team)
