#SharingSession (1) World Class University Academic Tradition Story With Masduki
How to study to adapt to the academic tradition, weather, and food in other countries?
Click, Snap! The sound of a Digital SLR camera and the sound of a smartphone camera burst in the Eastparc Hotel meeting room. A new philosopy of doctor from UII’s Communication Department has just posed with the Head of the Communication Department of UII, while raising a T-shirt that reads “Communication” with a big “A”, a t-shirt that was intentionally made after achieving A accreditation of this department. This is a successive good news for Communication Department: We get A accreditation (again), and a doctor from university at Germany at the same time. Yeah, Masduki, a lecturer in the Communication Deparment at UII, has finished defending his dissertation entitled Public Service Broadcasting in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia in front of examiners on July 18, 2019. “The German examination is simple, calm and not luxurious. Unlike Indonesia and the Netherlands, which has a tradition built with sacred, luxurious and lively tests, ” said Masduki.
Masduki, share the stoy of him at Coordination Meeting of Communication Department, on August 9, 2019, that He told us many things that we can learn from his academic journey in Germany for three years. Learning arises even from things that are not commonly faced in Indonesia, especially in Jogjakarta. For example from the comparison of cultures between Germany (Europe) and Indonesia.
Indonesia, for example, still focuses on material matters. People are still busy taking care of how to eat, how to secure property, how to house and so forth. Meanwhile, “The Germans are even Post-Material,” said Masduki. For example, Germans have talked about sharing with others. So no wonder that many refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and others were welcomed with a “Welcome Refugee”.
Talks about freedom of opinion, social concern, and post-religious have become the main topics in Germany. Post-religious considers religion personal. The church is only a tourist spot for non-Europeans. “There is no congregation except to come if you want to get married in the church,” he added.
But the point is, said Masduki, academic traditions at world-class universities such as the Institute of Communication Studies & Media Research (IfKW), Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU Munich) are indeed different. For example the way students interact with lecturers. “Students in Germany, if this is like a glass, it is assumed that 70-80 percent of the contents are already filled,” said Masduki. Lecturers always give a book reading and it will be asked in the classroom and the discussion process takes place there, explained Masduki. At that time the students were already supposed ready. Masduki explained that the lecturer gave paper review and other writing assignments so it was not surprising that the library was full of reader and students that want to send assignments.
Not to mention there are a myriad of workshops that are a pity to pass up with an environmentally friendly registration system: online registration. For example for foreign students there is a city orientation workshop, or there is also an academic writing workshop to write academic papers both theses and dissertations.
Masduki advised, “If you want to build a network (in the world of communication academics), be diligent and active in the International Communication Association (ICA) and the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR),” said Masduki. The forum, you will meet a lot of thinkers in the world of communication that we often read his book as a reference. For example, said Masduki, he could meet Graham Murdoch, author of the Political Communication Handbook at the forums. At the international forum, academicians who are interested in continuing their studies can discuss with many professors the theme of the study. “There are many professors who are often present at not participating as conference presenters, instead to see the development of communication studies in the contemporary world, now you can approach with the professor here,” he said. This method is even more likely to get assistance from the desired professor when going to study abroad. This method is more effective than sending random dissertation proposals to any professor in the hope that they are interested in our ideas, he said again.
If lucky, diligently writing papers, and diligently networking, you can also participate in conferences in several countries for free as well as travel. Masduki’s exposure is not merely a figment. For example, he could take part in a conference on Freedom of the Press while returning home, financed to and from home. “At that time there was a World Press Freedom Day in Jakarta, the committee was interested in my paper, yes, I said it was funded to Indonesia. So I go home for free, right?” He asked the committee, which was agreed with a moment later. Not only to Indonesia, but also to conferences in several other countries.
Even so, according to Masduki, not every scholarship recipient can always be like this. There are also many regulations from scholarship providers that are strict and make recipients unable to move freely apart from focusing on their studies. So it is necessary for observant scholarship seekers to choose and sort out scholarship providers. Masduki said many scholarships for studying in Germany. Various types and criteria. For example, you can try the IGSP (Indonesia Germany Scholarship Program) scholarship from Germany for Indonesians through the Indonesian government. There are also DAAD (The German Academic Exchange Service), Hans Shiedel (scholarship study and research), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, or also from institutions such as Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.
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