Author name: Ghina Nafsiya

Jatinangor, June 30, 2023 – Universitas Padjadjaran opens opportunities for all students to learn and teach effectively. This is implemented through the Universitas Padjadjaran Internal Teaching Assistance program. This program was started by the first batch in 2021. Unpad Internal Teaching Assistance is a learning activity program carried out by students collaboratively with teachers/tutors/facilitators/parents in various educational units around the Unpad Jatinangor campus. The presence of teaching assistants allows for a more interactive learning environment and responsiveness for students, thus, the learning process can take place more effectively. In addition, through teaching assistance, Unpad students also have the opportunity to develop their teaching skills and gain practical experience in the field of education. The Teaching Assistance Batch 5 of Universitas Padjadjaran Year 2023 is held from January 10, 2023 to June 20, 2023. This activity is attended by Unpad students who are at least in their 4th semester and can be followed by all students in all faculties at Universitas Padjadjaran. All students are free to choose subjects, but are advised to choose subjects that are in accordance with the study programs in their respective faculties. The Faculty of Cultural Science, for instance, is dominated by students who teach Indonesian, English, religion, and thematic subjects.  One of the schools being taught by students of the Cultural Sciences is SMK Baabul Kamil, located in Cikuda, Jatinangor. In addition to collaboration between teachers and students, Unpad students also collaborated with each other. As done by Reza Amin Yasiri with Muhamad Rizal from the Arabic study program. They collaborated by creating teaching materials for religious subjects and taught in the same classes. In the process, teaching activities in the classroom are filled with diverse materials and delivered through interactive learning, where Unpad students invited high school students to play an active role in expressing opinions, collaborating with colleagues, and practicing public speaking skills. The teaching assistance activity at SMK Baabul Kamil ended with high school students giving letters of impressions and messages to students who had taught. The letters were positive and showed their enthusiasm for the teaching assistance activities of Universitas Padjadjaran. Writer: Lusiana Dewi SaefudinTranslator: Jauza Maryam Mumtazah

Bandung, West Java – The Faculty of Economy and Business at Universitas Padjadjaran held an international conference titled International Conference Integrated Microfinance Management (IMM) for Sustainable Community Development in the Iwa Koesoemasoemantri Campus, Jl. Dipati Ukur No. 35 Bandung on 20-21 September. This conference, fully supported by the Faculty of Humanities and other faculties, had speakers with expertise in the IMM field, one of whom was Dr. (H.C.) Martha Tilaar, founder of Martha Tilaar Group.  Dr. Adiatma Y. M. Siregar, the conference chairperson, says this event was held to introduce the concept of integrated Microfinance Management (IMM) to the wider community, as well as to record IMM activities in Indonesia.  “We want to introduce the concept of Integrated Microfinance Management to the general public, including, practitioners, the government, and academics. This is because the concept is not widely known to people, even though it has been applied many times — they are just not inventoried well enough,” says Adiatma. Other than expressing the purpose of the conference, Adiatma adds that IMM is one of the actions that will go beyond providing financial aid. He believes that financial aid is not enough to break the chain of poverty in society. This is also inseparable from various other factors that need to be considered, such as health, education, culture, and local knowledge.  In line with Adiatma’s opinion, financial aid should go hand in hand with community empowerment efforts. This aims to improve the quality of education and health that emerges from the local culture. “The point is, it’s not only about distributing money, but how that money can be used well,” he says. Although the knowledge and concept of IMM is relatively new to the public, there are many similar approaches in Indonesia. Adiatma explains these cases, such as the one that happened in Kampung Adat Cireundeu, Cimahi.  “So, actually, the concept is maybe not well-known as an academic concept, but there are many implementations of it,” He adds. This international conference held by the Faculty of Economy and Business at Universitas Padjadjaran received positive feedback from various groups. This is shown by the 150 participants from different occupational backgrounds, such as academics, government officials, and practitioners. Not only that, but the participants also came from various countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Tanzania, and the Netherlands. Additionally, as many as forty papers were presented at this international conference. Through this event, Adiatma reemphasizes that the process of eradicating poverty merely through financial aid will not be enough. It needs to be supported by an empowerment process, so it can create a community that has capacity and is ultimately free from poverty. “When people are given financial aid, they will not necessarily get out of poverty, if you do not consider other factors, such as health, education, culture, and local knowledge that they already have,” he says. Writer: Maria Imanuella Dewi SekartajiTranslator: Jauza Maryam Mumtazah

Community service activities are one way for universities to empower and increase the economic potential and resources of the community. This is done as a form of implementation of the tridharma of higher education. The Faculty of Cultural Sciences has made various efforts to contribute to the welfare of the community around the campus, one of which is through PPM (Community Service or Pengabdian Pada Masyarakat) activities.  The Unpad PPM team, led by FIB Lecturer Dr. Puspa Mirani Kadir, conducted an interesting program that was able to increase the potential of the village. The PPM program with the theme “Strengthening the Village Cadre Cooperation System in Reducing the Number of Stunting Patients in Sindulang Village” has cooperated with vegetable farmers to help sell crops to the community, especially the campus community. This collaboration is carried out every Thursday by selling vegetables in the Faculty of Cultural Sciences environment. Through this program, the FIB community and other faculties at Unpad contribute to a sustainable community economy. Writer: Maria Imanuella Dewi SekartajiTranslator: Jauza Maryam Mumtazah

Sundanese Literature Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Padjadjaran started the ninth month by holding a public lecture entitled Dual Perspectives: Fifty Years of Sunda-California Cultural Exchange in the FIB World Class University framework. This program successfully presented Margot Rose Lederer, a Sundanese culture-loving master urban planner from UC Berkeley who is also a Sundanese Heritage and Sundanese Dancers member, to discuss cultural exchanges between Sunda and America. This event was held hybridly through a Zoom meeting and at the Japanese Language Study Center Hall, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Padjadjaran University, on Thursday, September 1, 2022 from 09.00 – 11.00 WIB. The event was hosted by Dr. Lina Meilinawati Rahayu, M.Hum., and responded by Dr. Taufik Ampera, M.Hum. In her presentation, Margot shared about Sundanese arts, including music, drama, and theater, which were developed in California. It was even mentioned that Gamelan music, which is included in Sundanese culture, has been exhibited internationally since 1893 at the World’s Fair Chicago. Until now, the musical instruments are still well stored at the Field Museum in Chicago. In the following years, Sundanese art has never ceased to participate in the international arena. This is proven by its participation in global events in America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Many great Indonesian artists, especially Sundanese, were also involved, such as Enoch Atmadibrata, Irawati Durban Ardjo, Nugraha Sudiredja, Nining Sekarningsih, Rucita, Undang Sumarna, and Endo Suanda. Since 1974, Sundanese art in California has been well preserved. Musical instruments such as gamelan can be found in several educational institutions, including the University of California Santa Cruz and the University of California UC Davis. Similarly, other arts, such as wayang golek, theater, or drama, as well as rampak dance, are performed and introduced. During her chat with Sundanese Literature study program students, Margot also shared why she fell in love with Sundanese culture. Apart from her family, which helps her build her love for culture, Margot also believes that art and culture are one way to express her concern for social, natural, and economic issues. The gentleness and emotion evoked in Sundanese music, such as the strains of the suling and the friction of the rebab, as well as the passionate rhythms in the drumming of the kendang, further fostered her love for Sundanese art. Another factor that eventually made Margot seriously pursue Sundanese art even being excellent at performing butterfly dance and sulintang dance, is because in dancing, a woman is not limited by the gender attached to her. When dancing, a woman can be anything and perform any role according to what she wants to convey. Through dance, a woman is given the freedom to express herself. Margot has been interested in Sundanese culture since she graduated from high school. Since then, her determination to explore Sundanese culture has become more determined, as proven by her visit to Indonesia and a village in Cirebon to learn Sundanese dances. Because of this interest, Margot established relationships and friendships with various institutions to maintain, introduce, and develop Sundanese culture in the international arena. The Sundanese cultural exchange relationship with California is expected to be a positive thing that will have a reciprocal relationship that has a good impact on the sustainability of Sundanese culture. The international cooperation that has been built is expected to strengthen the existence of Sundanese culture globally. With a master’s in urban planning, Margot could also explain the role and influence of culture in the urban planning process. According to her, art, music, theater, and crafts greatly influence the formation of a city. To create public spaces and open creative minds, cultural elements should be considered more deeply to appreciate the history and struggles of the great people behind the creation of art and culture. Local culture should be used to create a modern environment without losing the essence of art and culture so that all levels of society know their identity. By being the basis of urban development planning, a culture serves as a reminder that we should always start with small steps that have a big impact on the future. We can do everything possible to bring Sundanese culture to a broader international realm. Still, the whole community has an important role that must be balanced with a legal umbrella from the government. The community must support the implementation of Law Number 5 of 2017 to achieve the common goal of bringing Sundanese culture to the world stage. Writer: Taufik RahayuTranslator: Firda Khoirunnisa

Jatinangor, West Java – August 25, 2023 reported from lldikti.kemdikbud.go.id based on a survey conducted by pdskji.org in 2020 responded by 4010 respondents, it is concluded that the 17-29 years old age group claimed to have the most psychological-related concerns. From this survey, it is also inferred that students are a big part of the group. To shed light on this issue, Unpad’s Faculty of Cultural Sciences emphasizes the importance of self-management and self-regulation for students. Self-regulation is the ability to exercise full control over one’s emotions and behavior. There are still, indeed, many students who are constantly holed up in their assignments, organizational activities, and other demands from people around them that they disregard their own mental health. If enough awareness is allocated to the importance of mental health, the skill of being able to self-regulate will certainly be of great help in carrying out our obligations as students. New students’ mental health issues start with continuously fostering a negative mindset. For new students, mental health also plays an important role in adapting to various new environments as they come across various new things, from socializing to learning methods that are much different from when they were high school students. The abundance of new experiences sometimes leads new students to become disoriented and eventually triggers negative thoughts to emerge. Deriving from this negative mindset, new students tend to feel that they have chosen the wrong major, which in turn causes stress, even though it is completely normal to feel this way as the beginning of college is a time to adapt and get used to new surroundings. There are many ways to shift a negative mindset into a positive mindset, including: Writer: Faculty of Cultural Sciences’ Opera Budaya TeamTranslator: Dhia Anaulva Putri

Jatinangor, August 23, 2023 – The dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Unpad, Prof. Aquarini Priyatna inaugurated the renovation of the canteen symbolically with a ribbon cutting.  The renovation of the FIB PSBJ Canteen is one of the steps to manage facilities in the FIB Unpad environment to improve the quality of environmental comfort.  With this renovation, the PSBJ canteen has become more organized with improved kitchen quality, additional tables and chairs, and better lighting. In addition, the PSBJ canteen has also become cleaner with a waste management and cleaning policy that is assisted by outsourced staff.  In addition to renovations to the PSBJ canteen, there were also renovations to the bridge that connects the PSBJ field with the main door of the canteen. It has been beautified and can be a unique spot for photos. Vice Dean for Resources and Organization of FIB Unpad, Dr. Mumuh Muchsin, at the end of the inauguration advised that the renovated facilities be maintained and cared for by always ensuring the cleanliness and tidiness of the facilities, as well as implementing a smoking ban in the canteen, in order to provide a sense of comfort for all students, lecturers, and education staff in FIB Unpad. Most importantly, the canteen has succeeded on reducing the number of plastic wastes by following waste management protocols through the usage of reusable utensils. Hopefully, with these renovations, the sense of pride in FIB Unpad will increase.  Writer: Yohanes William IvakdalamTranslator: Jauza Maryam Mumtazah

Jatinangor, West Java — The need for clean water is often an urgency that people often encounter. Unsurprisingly, this will cause people to buy bottled water to get water that is suitable for drinking. Of course, this becomes a new problem related to the environment, especially with the increase in waste which ultimately also has an impact on the quality of clean water.  In response to the existing problems, Universitas Padjadjaran built Cikahuripan as one of the facilities that can be enjoyed by the Unpad community when they need to get clean water to drink for free. The facility was inaugurated in 2023 in response to the clean water crisis and increasing plastic waste.  Before being named ‘Cikahuripan’, the free drinking water facility was named ‘Jalatista’. This facility was built at the end of 2018. Then, it changed its name in 2023. Universitas Padjadjaran’s Director of Innovation and Corporation, Tomy Perdana, explains that the naming has a meaning from the Sundanese language, with ci meaning water and kahuripan meaning life. Thus, Cikahuripan can be interpreted as the water of life.  As for 2023, 16 Cikahuripan facilities have been built at 14 points, such as 9 faculties and 5 supporting facilities, including the Unpad Central Library or commonly known as Graha Kandaga. At this location, Cikahuripan facilities are located inside and outside the building. Tomy hopes that the construction of Cikahuripan at most points in Universitas Padjadjaran can be the first step in reducing plastic, as well as obtaining clean water suitable for consumption, especially for students, teaching staff, and lecturers. “Hopefully with this facility, Unpad residents can utilize it optimally,” says Tommy.  The construction of the Cikahuripan facility at Universitas Padjadjaran was also welcomed positively by students. International Relations student, Andi Maulid Zulfikar, tells the Warta Kema team that he felt helped by the facility.  “Within the scope of the campus, it (Jalatista/Cikahuripan) is needed. We can see for ourselves, every minute someone must come to fill (water). So, this can be a saving measure for students because many students can refill their water at Jalatista (Cikahuripan),” Andi tells Warta Kema.   Clean water should be a right that can be accessed by all people.  Therefore, the availability of clean water suitable for consumption, such as Cikahuripan owned by Universitas Padjadjaran is the first step in answering sanitation and clean water problems, as well as the environment. Writer: Maria Imanuella Dewi SekartajiTranslator: Jauza Maryam Mumtazah