"All of these noble goals are to contribute to strengthening the internationalization program. Currently the university is in full swing, enthusiastic about carrying out the internationalization program. Of course, we hope that the internationalization program between USU and NTU can be realized. And of course, this activity also strengthens relations even more" said the Dean of FIB USU.
FIB USU PR - On Monday, March 4th, 2024, the Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) of the Universitas Sumatra Utara (USU) received a visit from the National Institute of Education (NIE) Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. The visit was attended by Dr. Sa'eda Buang who is the Chair of the NTU Group and Chair of the Malay Language and Culture Program Department of The Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC), Head of the USU International Affairs Office (KUI) Prof. Dr. Rudy Sofyan, M.Hum., Dean of FIB USU, Chair and Secretary of the English Literature, Indonesian Literature, Batak Literature, Malay Literature, Ethnomusicology and History Study Programs, as well as study program students. During this visit, FIB USU held a discussion about Malay and Batak culture in North Sumatra. The discussion invited Prof. T. Silvana Sinar, M.A., Ph.D., and Drs. Warisman Sinaga M. Hum. as a resource person. During the visit, a Letter of Intent was also signed with NIE NTU.
Dean of FIB USU Prof. Dr. Dra. T. Thyrhaya Zein M.A. said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between USU and NTU would be carried out, collaboration activities must be initiated and carried out. FIB USU warmly welcomed the visit from NIE NTU. Of course, this visit will strengthen and focus the field of academic cooperation. At this meeting, the two institutions can share knowledge, ideas, experiences, and then present ideas for the best collaboration in the fields of education, research and community service.
Dean of FIB USU hopes that collaboration can be achieved in holding joint conferences related to language, literature, culture, history and music. FIB will also invite NTU to the seminar held annually, namely ISLCH, which in 2024 will be in its 6th year. FIB also hopes that there will be experts from NTU, especially NIE and the Malay Language program as speakers. It is hoped that this meeting will also produce opportunities for student exchange programs in the form of semester-long exchanges, Short Courses and Summer Courses.
"All of these noble goals are to contribute to strengthening the internationalization program. Currently the university is in full swing, enthusiastic about carrying out the internationalization program. Of course, we hope that the internationalization program between USU and NTU can be realized. And of course, this activity also strengthens relations even more" said the Dean of FIB USU.
Prof. Dr. Rudy Sofyan, M.Hum. said that there are three activities that will be carried out in 2024 and it is hoped that NTU can participate. The first activity was Joint International KKN which involved 38 Western Region State Universities and Universities from abroad. USU, as the host of the Joint International Community Service Program, invited NIE NTU to send its students as participants which will be held in the period 5 August – 5 September 2024.
The second activity is the Summer Course. In 2024, USU will hold 25 Summer Course programs. One of the Summer Course programs comes from FIB USU entitled "North Sumatra Cultural Diversity: Introducing Malay and Batak Cultural Diversity". In 2024, FIB USU will hold the Summer Course for the second time. The third activity is that FIB lecturers can collaborate with foreign lecturers to carry out community service activities. USU provides sharing funds for this collaborative activity. Next is the Guest Lecture or team teaching which is a joint class activity between USU students/lecturers and foreign students/lecturers in the form of joint projects, joint research, joint publications, and mirror classrooms.
Dr. Sa'edah Buang thanked FIB USU for welcoming NIE NTU to come to visit. Dr. Saedah said that NTU's purpose in coming was to gather knowledge that would be conveyed by FIB USU lecturer Prof. T. Silvana and Drs. Warisman. The group from NIE NTU is part of a specific course. The course has curriculum material to understand the Malay ethnic groups, their culture, changes, cultural preservation, language and so on. Therefore, NIE NTU wants to submit this data to USU's FIB. Every year, NIE NTU usually takes students to places known to have Malay ethnic groups. Before that, NIE NTU had been to Minang, Padang, and even Iraq.
"Insya Allah, next year we will go to Madagascar to find out about the Malay people there. So this is part of our program, and we will explore places where there are Malay tribes. So that we know about our ancestors, so that students know their ancestors, and can feel how pure, how proud, the Malay ancestry is and how it can be maintained in facing the world," said Dr. Sa'eda.
