Yogyakarta, July 16th, 2024–Fisipol UGM International Short Course or FISCO is a short-course program organized by the Global Engagement Office (GEO) of Fisipol UGM. This international course program consists of two main activities, that is the lecture and cultural exclusion session. This year, with the title of “Digital Transformation in Indonesia’s Civil Society: Challenges and Opportunities,” FISCO 2024 offers six topics of lecture about the many contemporary issues and challenges that Indonesia faces as a result of the massive digital transformation. This program was conducted in the span of two weeks, starting from the 7th of July until the 19th of July 2024 and is located in Yogyakarta.
One of the classes that was conducted on the 16th of July 2024, titled “Gender and Social Inclusion in Indonesia,” attempts to increase the equality for women and minority groups. This topic was chosen as an effort to increase the awareness of structural challenges, such as Online Gender-Based Violence and digital marginalization that minority groups often face.
Other than offering a deeper understanding of various academic topics, FISCO 2024 also invites international students to explore the various cultural destinations of Yogyakarta. Two of which are the Keraton Museum and Pentingsari tourism village.
The tour at the Keraton Museum gave participants a firsthand look at the richness of Yogyakarta’s cultural heritage, particularly on the interactive exhibition of the evolution of the Javanese modes of transportation. On the other hand, Pentingsari tourism village is a tourism village that became part of local cultural heritage preservation by empowering civil society partnerships.
The enthusiasm of the FISCO 2024 participants came from various continents around the world. According to Esther Evelyn, as Participant Relations of FISCO 2024, the total number of participants of FISCO 2024 reached around 35 students, 15 from Indonesia and 20 from outside Indonesia.
“In these activities, we don’t just invite students from UGM, but also students from UMY. From their international students count, there was one person from Liberia and two people from Yemen,” said Esther in the interview.
With that, FISCO 2024 has provided facilities in order to expand the understanding of students, local or international, about Indonesia in its attempts to face the digital transformation, while also getting involved in the dynamic local communities.
Moreover, FISCO 2024 became the first short-course that is organized offline by the Global Engagement Office of Fisipol UGM, after the last FISCO in 2021, which was organized online due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.