As one of the oldest private educational institutions in Indonesia, Parahyangan Catholic University (Unpar) recognizes the importance of internationalization that is projected onto an educational collaboration in various fields, one of which is related to cultural issues.
In 2013, Unpar and the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) signed an MoU concerning collaboration in the academic field, namely the Student Exchange Program. As the implementation of the MoU, discussions concerning the possibility of the implementation of collaborative activities that can become a platform for both sides to share the results of research, knowledge and experience, as well as to provide international experiences for students were added . In addition, to provide an opportunity to share cross-cultural experiences for students and staff of both universities.
Based on these discussions, Prof. Map Sanderson (Deputy Vice Chancellor for International Affairs) of UNDA and Prof. Robertus Wahyudi Triweko who served as Rector of Unpar (2012-2015) and the Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Mangadar Situmorang, Ph.D. (currently Rector of Unpar 2015-2019) have agreed to start joint research activities followed by the implementation of the student mobility program .
In that period, discussions related to collaboration between the two sides were followed through by Dr. Martin Drums and Dr. Daniel Baldino (lecturer UNDA) and Dr. Ida Susanti (Head of the International Office and Cooperation Unpar, in that period). From these discussions, the resulting agreement of both parties to devise a Community Immersion program was born.
Community Immersion : Learning about Indonesian Culture
The Community Immersion Program is a form of collaboration between Unpar and UNDA in the field of culture. The program is in the form of a two-week intensive course that combines academic activities and community service and a variety of cultural events. The program aims to provide a comprehensive experience for foreign students during their brief learning time at Unpar.
Participants get a chance to improve their academic quality through seminars and workshops given by experts from Unpar. Not only in the classroom, participants were also directly involved in field practices through community service activities ( live-in ). Thus, The field study program invites foreign students to study and analyze the problems discussed based on direct observation.
Both programs are designed to create an environment where participants can provide solutions to the problems and challenges being faced by the local community. In addition, the participants get the opportunity to know and learn about the culture of Indonesia, particularly the Sundanese culture.
The material in this program covers areas such as introduction to Bahasa Indonesia/Indonesian National Language; history, politics, and culture of Indonesia; and community involvement / programs related to social justice issues. The learning activities in the classroom are combined with field trips and site visits , peer-to-peer learning as well as 3-days live-in activities.
This year, Community Immersion took place from November 22 to December 2, 2016. This event was held in Unpar’s campus area and some other areas outside the campus. These activities include classes of Bahasa Indonesia, academic classes, introduction to Unpar students, traditional Indonesian dance lessons, a site visit and also a live-in .
This year’s live-in event took place at Wisma Aloysius, Gambung, Ciwidey. During this event, participants visited local communities around Ciwidey and helped the local community daily activities such as picking tea leaves, milking cows and selling the milk to the market. Not only that, the students also visited the elementary school (SD) in the area to teach English.
The site-visit activity was filled with visits to several places such as the Eco-Camp in Taman Hutan Raya Haji Juanda, Saung Angklung Udjo (cultural exposure through angklung making), and a visit to the Asian-African Museum, the historical street of Braga, and Situ Patenggang. In addition, the participants also visited the Sarimukti landfill with the aim of improving the social sense of empathy and understanding of the issues faced by the rural areas of developing countries.
Between the activities, the Australian students had the opportunity to study one of the traditional dances of Indonesia, namely the Saman dance with student buddies who collaborated with the Student Activity Unit (UKM) Listra Unpar. At the event’s closing ceremony, they were divided into several groups to display the Saman dance they had been rehearsing for more than two weeks in Unpar.
Source: Kompas – Griya Ilmu (Tuesday, December 13, 2016)
