Nowadays, it is common to see campuses across the globe have a museum of their own. As one of the oldest universities in Indonesia, Universitas Gadjah Mada reckons the university museum essential to recollect and keeping track of memories of past events, enabling students and the general public to learn more about the university’s history. In 2013, UGM Museum was established in Yogyakarta.
“UGM Museum is an artifact of the collective memory of the UGM community. It marks the present objectivity and facticity, records of the past, and future projections of the university,” said Heri Santoso, UGM Faculty of Philosophy lecturer, in a UGM Museum webinar, Thursday (10/6).
According to him, the role of the UGM Museum is not only to provide historical enlightenment but also to become a source of inspiration and a concrete manifestation of the university’s vision and mission to preserve and develop knowledge. As home to hundreds of university collections, UGM Museum functions as a miniature that showcases memories, progress, and works of its academics from time to time and protects the university identity as a national university, university of Pancasila, and university of the people.
“UGM Museum exists to ensure that our collective memories grow and are well-preserved. It will continue to develop and carve the artifacts of civilization,” said Heri.
This webinar explores the existence of university museums, along with their functions and roles. In addition to Heri, a professor from the National University of Singapore, John N. Miksic, was present as the webinar speaker. He highlighted that despite its common presence in several countries, many experts were still debating the role of university museums and art history study in higher education settings.
“The role of university museums is still a matter of debate among education experts,” John said.
Author: Gloria