Dean of FIB Unpad as a Public Lecture Speaker “Gender, Ideology, and Cultural Studies” at Udayana University

The Doctoral Study Program (S-3) of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) Udayana University (Unud) successfully held the first Public Lecture online on Monday, March 14. The lecture, which was opened by the Dean of FIB Unud, discussed the topic of “Gender, Ideology, and Cultural Studies”.

Appearing as a guest lecturer who gave a public lecture was Prof. Aquarini Priyatna, who daily serves as Dean of FIB Unpad. She is also active in writing books and conducting research, especially in the fields of culture, literature, media, and gender studies.

The Public Lecture, which was moderated by a doctoral student of Cultural Studies, Ni Luh Putu Ari Sulatri, was attended by 100 participants consisting of students and lecturers from Cultural Studies at Udayana University, as well as alumni and academics from various universities in Indonesia.

The number of registrants is 125 people, with only 100 people participating in Zoom due to the limited capacity, while other participants followed via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_ROUr5h5HI.

When the news was revealed, the number of YouTube viewers continued to grow, and up until the news was compiled, 141 viewers had been recorded.

Active Scholars

Dean of FIB Unud, Dr. Made Sri Satyawati, when opening the public lecture expressed his gratitude to Prof. Aquarini who is a very active academic in research, education, and publication.

When the news was revealed, the number of YouTube viewers continued to grow, and up until the news was compiled, 141 viewers had been recorded.

Active Scholars

Dean of FIB Unud, Dr. Made Sri Satyawati, S.S.M. Hum. when opening the public lecture expressed her gratitude to Prof. Aquarini who is a very active scholar in research, education, and publication.

“Even though she was busy as the Dean, she also had time to share her knowledge with us at FIB Unud. We are grateful for her cooperation in sharing her knowledges,” said the Dean of FIB Unud.

Dean Made Sri Satyawati also welcomed the initiative of the chairperson of the Cultural Studies doctoral study program, who had held a public lecture, by inviting lecturers from other universities as a form of cooperation. The Dean of FIB Unud hopes that cooperation and guest lectures such as those conducted with Unpad need to be continued for the progress of the institution.

The chairperson of Cultural Studies doctoral study program at FIB Unud, Prof. I Nyoman Darma Putra, in his speech said that the topic of gender and ideology is an important keyword in the study of Cultural Studies.

“Although it has long been present in the world of humanities disciplines, ideology has never lost its appeal. In fact, it is increasingly important because it is always actual and contextual, and discussed in various contexts and dimensions,” said Prof. Darma.

In the Cultural Studies doctoral study program, gender and ideology are two different courses. This shows how important it is for Cultural Studies students to understand gender and ideology theories. Good mastery of these two theories can provide Cultural Studies students or researchers with productive analytical tools.

Chairperson Prof. Darma also said that he deliberately invited Professor Aquarini as a resource person, not only because she is a young and prominent academic in the field of gender studies and cultural studies in Indonesia, but also because she is active in research and has won many grants including funds from abroad, such as Sumitomo.

A “Political” Study

In her presentation, Professor Aquarini said that cultural studies is the study of art and culture and other aspects of life that are critical and political.

“Cultural studies are always political. For cultural studies scholars, there is no such thing as normal or normative, but everything has a political element behind it,” said the lecturer who earned her doctorate from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Cultural Studies always questions why meaning and the determination of meaning are carried out in such a way, and tries to dismantle meanings that seem natural when in fact they are political.

Gender studies, according to Professor Aquarini, also questions practices and concepts or meanings that seem natural but are political constructions.

“Gender studies help make cultural studies great because gender studies try to dismantle unequal arrangements,” she said.

So far, many aspects of cultural practices have been experienced and that can clearly create gender inequality. For example, cooking in the kitchen is often considered women’s work. Although that is factual, if the cultural practice is experienced as if men are not used to working in the kitchen, that creates gender bias and it certainly needs to be addressed.

In her forty minute presentation, Professor Aquarini also discussed the theories and research techniques of cultural studies.

“Cultural Studies always researches about people and never uses the term research object because people cannot be considered as objects, but subjects,” she said.

Question and Answer

After the presentation, Professor Aquarini received many questions from the participants. The questions included how to reduce gender injustice, how to prevent patriarchal domination, whether taboos in terms of sex should be studied, and so on.

In her various responses, Professor Aquarini said that various discussions and shared understanding of the unequal gender order can be solved together through discussion, equalization of perceptions, and deepening of understanding.

For example, she illustrated, gender inequality in the household can occur because women are always considered the ones in charge of washing and cooking. If girls spend two hours a day, it means that fourteen hours a week of time is reduced, while men have excess time to do other things that women cannot because they have domestic duties.

“Such things should not be considered normal and natural, but in fact they are very political,” he said.

The public lecture was warm and engaging. Participants were mesmerized by Professor Aquarini’s presentation, as evidenced by the fact that they stayed until the end of the two-hour lecture.

The whole event lasted two hours, delivered neatly by the host of the Cultural Studies doctoral student, Renata Lusilaora Siringo Ringo.

News source: https://s3kajianbudaya.unud.ac.id/posts/menampilkan-prof-aquarini-kuliah-umum-topik-gender-ideologi-dan-kajian-budaya-berlangsung-sukses

Translator: Jauza Maryam Mumtazah