FKIP – International Office (IO) of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta in collaboration with the Postgraduate Study Program (S-2) English Education held the International Graduate Students Festival on Tuesday-Thursday (12-14/10/2021) and Tuesday (26/10/2021) online.

This activity was one of the synergistic programs of IO FKIP UNS to support the acceleration of UNS towards World Class University (WCU) to attract the attention of international students and lecturers to get to know more about the quality of research conducted by UNS students. Chaired by Dr. Nur Arifah Drajati, M.Pd., the International Graduate Students Festival activity consisted of three series of activities.

The first activity was a pedagogical workshop activity. Titled “Narrative Inquiry Webinar Series“, this activity lasted for three days on Tuesday-Thursday (12-14/10/2021) with Prof. Gary Patrick Barkhuizen from the University of Auckland. The topic on the first day was “What’s is Narrative Inquiry?“. The topic on the second day was “Analyzing Narrative Inquiry“. Meanwhile, the topic of the third day was “Reporting and Publishing Narrative Inquiry“.

In addition to the workshop, the International Graduate Festival also held a second activity, namely a webinar with the theme “We are the Champion” by presenting qualified speakers in the field of three minutes speech at the international level. They are Vikrant Chap, M.Ed. from Purdue University, and Ika Lestari Damayanti, M.A., Ph.D. from the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI).

The third activity in the International Graduate Festival series was the 3 Minutes Speech Contest. This competition was open to all postgraduate students from universities in various countries and articles were allowed from any study background. The committee presents four judges in their fields. They are Vikrant Chap, M.Ed. from Purdue University, Ika Lestari Damayanti M.A., Ph.D. from UPI, Dr. Payel Dutta Chowdhury from REVA University, and Dr. Fan Fang from Shantou University.

The competition resulted in three winners from abroad and seven winners from Indonesia. The three overseas winners were Sangeeth Ramalingam from Malaysia, Thomas Mason Lim Beng Ann from Malaysia, and Karmila Rafiqah Mohd Rafiq Anbarasan from Malaysia while the seven winners from Indonesia were Anggi Prastiwi Kumalasari, Muhammad Najmussaqib Diya Alhaq, Erikson Togatorop, Ayu Rahma Ulufa Nuri , Nina Karina Sari, Ma’rifatul Ilmi, and Aji Budi Rinekso.

Dr. Arifah and the team hope that this activity can improve the ability of UNS students in conducting research and disseminating it in the international arena.

“My team and I hope that with this activity, there will be more UNS students who have the ability to conduct research and disseminate it to the international arena so that it will become a credit point for those who will continue their studies and take part in a reputable university at WUR because it is possible after they finish their studies, they can be recruited to work in international companies and or universities with an international reputation,” said Dr. Arifah when contacted by the UNS FKIP journalist team on Monday (03/01/2022).

Reporter: Rosantika Utami
Editor: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita