Proceedings of the International University Symposium on Humanities and Arts (INUSHARTS 2019)

INUSHARTS is an annual international conference held by the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia and it has been a platform for undergraduate and postgraduate students, lecturers, independent scholars and practitioners to disseminate excellent and innovative research works. In 2019, INUSHARTS was revamped to create a more dynamic space for scholars to share their research projects. To keep up with the trending discourse of society 4.0 and the role of digital technology while capturing the youthful energy since most of the conference participants were young and emerging scholars, the conference was intentionally labeled as INUSHARTS 4.0. Coincidentally, 2019 marked the fourth year of this scholarly event.

The main theme of the conference was “Emerging Issues in the Humanities and Arts” in response to the dynamics within the fields of linguistics, literature, area studies, cultural studies, archaeology, history, information science and philosophy. The presentations in INUSHARTS 4.0 cover the following subthemes: (1) Interdisciplinarity in Applied Linguistics: An Indonesian Perspective, (2) Information Science and Archiving in Contemporary Knowledge Production, (3) Articulating Identity in the Era of Mobility, (4) Critical (Cultural) Perspectives on Religion and Spirituality in Indonesia, (5) Excavating Indonesian Cultural Artefacts and Rejuvenating Cultural Heritage, (6) The Politics of Public Memory and History in Indonesia, (7) Environmental Sustainability within Indonesian Regional Development and (8) Gender Relations and Social Inequalities. The subthemes were also reflected in the plenary sessions by eight renowned international scholars: Dr. Monika Arnez (Asia Research Institute/University of Hamburg), Dr. Ahmad Najib Burhani (Indonesian Institute of Science), Dr. Richmond Stroupe (Soka University, Japan), Dr. Bart Barendregt (Leiden University, Netherlands), Chiara Zazzaro, Ph.D. (University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Italy), Prof. Dr. Heinzpeter Znoj (Bern University, Switzerland), Dong Geun Oh, Ph.D. (Keimyung University, South Korea) and Dr. Paul Bijl (Amsterdam University, Netherlands). The plenary speakers presented their state-of-the-art research works during the conference while providing insights on their research methodologies and frameworks for the conference participants.

40 articles were selected out of 325 articles that were presented in the panel sessions to be published in this international proceeding. These articles represent pressing issues within the Humanities that need to be a part of the international scholarships on the subject matters. The proceeding offers research works by emerging scholars on novel topics, such as popular culture and the representation of subordination and intersectionality of race, gender, social class, and other aspects in identity politics. Other articles discuss language as a part of culture from many perspectives. Another common topic from the articles is the role of memory and historical narratives in (re)shaping the understanding of the present as we look back at the past from a scientific framework. Discussions concerning information management and philosophical issues could also be found in this proceeding as a response to the existing debates in those fields of study. The articles in the proceeding signify a dynamic process of knowledge production as each article contributes ominously to the ongoing discussions concerning the problematic issues on the eight subthemes mentioned earlier in this preface.

Finally, INUSHARTS 4.0 was held with the support and assistance of Universitas Indonesia, particularly Prof. Rosali Saleh who was the Vice Rector of Research and Innovation and also the Research and Innovation Management Office. We are also grateful to have the support of the Dean, Vice Deans, Managers, lecturers, staff, and students from the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia. As the goal is to stimulate a more rigorous academic debates on emerging issues in the Humanities and Arts, INUSHARTS will continue to expand its platform and disseminate research works which will also benefit the society in general.

The Organizing Committee of INUSHARTS 4.0 (Julia Wulandari, Adhe I. Djajaatmadja, Mulyani, Lisda Liyanti, Maria Regina Widhiasti, Pratidina Sekar Pembayun, Danang Aryo Nugroho, Chaidir Ashari, Ghilman Assilmi, Yudi Bachrioktora, and Shuri Mariasih Gietty Tambunan)