On Tuesday, November 8th, 2022, students of the English Studies Programme UGM who enrolled in “Kampus Merdeka” program held its first seminar titled “International Students’ Seminar on Gender Equality” as one of the three-part events. This first seminar aims to deliver different topics about women’s condition in various countries and their history, discussing whether women have or have not been treated equally. The seminar was held offline in Room 709, Soegondo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM, from 01.00 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. However, this seminar was also streamed through Zoom Meeting so that people who were not able to attend on the spot could follow the event from anywhere.
Before the seminar started, an opening speech was given by Ms Adiba Qonita Zahroh, S.S., M.Litt. as the representative from the English Studies Programme. The seminar then continued with four presented speakers’ presentations, discussing various issues related to gender equality. The first speaker is Nazra Hanif Lutfiana, a student of the English Studies Programme 2019, UGM. Her topic is “Women’s Political Representation in Indonesia”. Here, she shared how women are presented in the political field, which often still discriminates by the dominance of their male counterparts. The second speaker is Colby Fortin, our Oberlin Shansi fellow, with her topic “Using Zines and Other Accessible Artforms in Survivor-Centered Research”. She elaborated on the history of zines as a tool to promote gender equality in the United States and how it can be developed to raise people’s awareness about this issue today. The speech was then continued by Fatihah Firdausi Nuzula, a student of the English Department UGM who brought the topic of “Policing Bodies: on the Protest Against Compulsory Hijab for Iranian Women”. She explained the condition of Iranian women today who receive discrimination from the Iranian government and how they fight for equality against the law. Last but not least, the discussion continued by our international student, Dana Castell Martinez from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona whose topic is “Women Emancipation in Europe through the Clothes”. Here, she shared the history of how women dress throughout the years and their suffering in society related to their way of dressing.
After the presentation ended, the seminar continued with a question and answer sections. There are three questions asked by the attendees, which include questions about women’s dressing culture in Indonesia and how to raise women’s participation in politics for the younger generation. The seminar ended with the speakers and attendees taking photos together.
Written by:
Dasadriya Pitaloka, English Studies Programme, 2019
Asyifa Rizky Amelia, English Studies Programme, 2019
Proofread by: Adiba Qonita Zahroh, S.S., M.Litt.