It was a very good semester.......Semester 24 (January
2007 to June 2007) was a very good semester for ACICIS. The School of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London and Leiden University from
Holland joined ACICIS as our first overseas member universities. Three
SOAS students finished their 2nd semester in-country by attending Muhammadiyah
University in Malang. They completed field study reports on the following subjects: Three students from Leiden
University, two American students, from Columbia University and Williams College
in Pennsylvania, and a German student from Hamburg University,
completed a semester of immersion studies at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta.
In addition to Indonesian language units they took units such as Anthropology
of Women, Growth of Islam in Indonesia, International Politics, Archeology, Old
Javanese, Gamelan and Javanese for Foreigners. We were delighted that Rebecca
Livermore from the University of Tasmania became the first ACICIS student to attend
the Indonesian Islamic University (UII) in Yogyakarta and study Islamic
Business. Rebecca was very happy to receive a $2,000 scholarship to study
at UII kindly donated to ACICIS by the Australia
Indonesia Institute. Next semester there will be four ACICIS students at UII. Planning
was well under way for another new study option from ACICIS - the Journalism
Professional Practicum (JPP) to be held in Jakarta in early 2008. Project
Officer and student supervisor for the program will be senior Walkley Award-winning
Australian journalist Louise Williams, who has had considerable experience living
and working in Indonesia and the Southeast Asian region. Once again we are grateful
for financial support from the Australia Indonesia Institute for this new study
option. The Resident Director's report
indicated that the semester passed smoothly, while the anonymous end of semester
online student survey showed
that student satisfaction with ACICIS remains very high. Students reported
their experiences of living in a fishing village and the
problems of being hospitalised while in Indonesia, while
former student Matt Eckersley of the University of Queensland reported a dramatic
evening he had which proved the sweetness of a degree in Indonesian.
Veteran reporter Mike Carlton from Australian TV station SBS interviewed ACICIS
students as part of a forthcoming documentary on Indonesia and reported his thoughts
on this encounter in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald. A/Prof
David Reeve of the University of New South Wales accepted the position of ACICIS
Deputy Consortium Director, and he is currently hard at work researching placements
for the new JPP study option, and looking at areas where ACICIS could expand its
range of study options and partner universities in Indonesia. Congratulations
also go to Indonesian Admin Assistant Lestari Widiastuti in Yogyakarta, who passed
a milestone by working for ACICIS for 10 years.
All in all - it was a very
good semester for ACICIS........
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