Indonesia
International engagement at the Faculty of Arts
The Faculty of Arts Indonesia Strategy focuses on:
- Building strong partnerships with our partners.
- Creating global experiences for our students.
- Attracting, training and mentoring the next generation of scholars of Indonesia.
- Producing and disseminating Indonesia focused knowledge.
- Facilitating an expanded engagement with Indonesia by showcasing more Indonesian voices.
Welcome from the Deputy Associate Dean International (Indonesia)
Indonesia is of critical importance to both Australia and the University and the Faculty of Arts is delighted to announce that moving forward, Indonesia is one of just three priority countries for the Faculty. The Faculty’s Indonesia activities are coordinated through the Indonesia Strategic Engagement Group (ISEG), with representatives from each school in the Faculty.
Following the University’s ‘Engaging with Indonesia 2020-2024’ Strategy, the Faculty of Arts is committed to the strategy of promoting research and dialogue on topics of mutual concern to both countries, enhancing ‘cultural exchange and mutual understanding’ and producing ‘university graduates ready to engage in and with Indonesia.’
Key to our goal of creating graduates ready to engage with Indonesia is our leading Indonesian language program, in addition to providing global classroom experiences for our students.
Across the faculty our researchers including staff and postgraduate students are conducting research on a great range of topics.
Through a process of nomination by our staff, the Faculty of Arts hosts 3-4 visiting academics from Indonesia per year for short visits as part of the Indonesia Initiative to enhance our collaborations.
We also provide platforms for sharing knowledge about Indonesia through a range of events. This includes the annual Arief Budiman Lecture and the Australia and Indonesia in Conversation Conference co-hosted with FISIPOL, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Further to this staff across the Faculty of Arts staff, regularly share their expertise on Indonesia via the extremely popular Indonesia@Melbourne blog and the Indonesia@Melbourne Talking Indonesia Podcast Series. Since their inception in 2015 the blog has had over which has had over 1.5 million views and the podcast series over 540,000 listens. The Faculty of Arts also closely cooperates with and often oversees the convenorship of the university wide Indonesia Forum.
I encourage you to get in touch if you want to connect with our researchers or be part of the exciting programs of engagement with Indonesia here in the Faculty of Arts.
Professor Katharine McGregor
Deputy Associate Dean International (Indonesia)
Teaching
Greater understanding of Indonesia is underpinned by language learning. For over 65 years, The University of Melbourne has proudly taught Indonesian and today hosts one of the leading Indonesian studies programs in the world based in the Asia Institute.
The Faculty boasts world class Indonesia experts across a range of schools who teach across politics, development, history, curatorship, media and gender studies. Our staff are highly engaged with Indonesia and have strong teaching, research and in-country expertise. They regularly give guest lectures to Indonesian audiences and teach into programs across Indonesian universities.
The Faculty offers innovative global classroom experiences at an undergraduate and postgraduate level, including joint masters degrees co-taught with Indonesian universities:
Joint masters degrees
Joint masters degrees co-taught with Indonesian universities in:
- Social Policy (with UGM)
- Development Studies (with UGM)
- Public Policy and Management (with UI and UNHAS)
Overseas subjects
University of Melbourne Overseas Subject (UMOS) "Yogyakarta Summer Intensive” (INDO20001) will be held in collaboration with FISIPOL UGM on 15-26 January 2024.
Research
Across the Faculty of Arts there are over 15 staff engaged in researching Indonesia including those with expertise in Politics and Society, Language, History, Culture, Art, Media, and Religion. This is in addition to many postgraduate students researching topics related to Indonesia.
Faculty of Arts researchers, in collaboration with the Nossal Institute, also collaborate with multiple universities and research institutes through the Knowledge Sector Initiative in Indonesia (2015-2022).
Examples of staff research projects underway involving Indonesia include:
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Digital Citizenship and Girls' Gender Empowerment
An ARC funded Discovery Early Career Research Award project, 2023-2025, Dr Annisa R. Beta with collaborators at the PUSKAPA (Center on Child Protection and Wellbeing at Universitas Indonesia).
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Indonesia's Open Ethnography Network
Funded by the Research Development Unit (RDU) and Indonesia Engagement Grant from the University of Melbourne, Dr Annisa R. Beta and Dr Benjamin Hegarty with collaborators at the PUI-PT PPH Unika Atma Jaya.
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PRIME (Partnership in Research - Indonesia and Melbourne) Social
A project co funded with Prime Health, which is administered through MDHS. Professor Vedi Hadiz and Dr Inaya Rakhmani (UI, Asia Research Centre).
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Gender, Collective Action and Governance in Rural Indonesia
DFAT Funded Project, Dr Rachael Diprose and Dr Ken Setiawan.
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‘Submerged Histories: Memory Activism in Indonesia and the Netherlands’
ARC Funded Discovery Project 2021-2025, Associate Professor Katharine McGregor and Dr Ana Dragojlovic in collaboration with Dr Grace Leksana at Malang University.
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Scaling-up the Impact of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (2020-2023)
Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship Dr Kate Macdonald (SSPS) in collaboration with Dr Poppy Winanti, Dr Nanang Kurniawan and Dr Bahruddin (UGM).
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PRIME Social Sciences
Research projects are now underway in Social Sciences for the Partnership in Research Indonesia and Melbourne (PRIME).
Engagement
The Faculty hosts important Indonesia focused engagement events that include both public lectures and workshops. We also share our research and that of our key Indonesian collaborators and thinkers online.
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Australia and Indonesia in Conversation
Co- hosted with UGM (FISIPOL) and the Faculty of Arts
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Asia Pacific Tropical Climate Conservation Art Research Network
Co-sponsored by Institut Konservasi and the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation (SHAPS) on 3-5 July 2023.
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Citizens of the World: Indonesian Studies in Australia
Co-hosted by the Asia Institute and the Faculty of Arts, 28 - 29 September 2021.
Engage with us online
Our online engagement has a strong focus on Indonesian voices and critically engages with Indonesian audiences. It includes:
Indonesia focussed researchers
Major Partners
Universitas Gajah Mada
Key collaborating faculties FISIPOL, FIB
Universitas Indonesia
Key collaborating faculties FISIP, FIA, FIB
In 2021 Professor Vedi Hadiz oversaw the creation of a new research partnership between AI and UI called the Asia Research Centre.
Universitas Airlangga
More information
For more information about the Faculty of Arts international engagement strategy (Indonesia), please contact the Deputy Associate Dean International (Indonesia).
- Deputy Associate Dean International (Indonesia)
- Professor Katharine McGregor
- k.mcgregor@unimelb.edu.au
- Phone
- +61 3 8344 3379