In August 2022, ACICIS opened its in-country International Relations Program (IRP) for the first time since 2020 before the pandemic. This semester, we welcomed a student from Murdoch University, Zacharie Nichols-Lang, in this program hosted by Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta.
ACICIS’ IRP allows students to study International Relations from the Indonesian perspective and offers a professional placement (internship) component with a local host organisation, which students take alongside their classes. This semester, Zach opted to undertake the internship component where he was involved in their hosts’ on-going projects, focusing on Southeast Asian relations studies. Zach had his placement in the Center of the Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS), a research center in UGM which commits toward multi-disciplinary studies on Southeast Asian countries. He took the internship with CESASS was driven by a strong passion for the Indonesia-Australia relationship and an awareness of the importance of understanding the social structure of Indonesia, moreover in Southeast Asian region, to improving bilateral relations. During the placement, Zach partook in several tasks and activities, such as: attending lectures, presenting and sharing on various sociopolitical topics, writing press releases, and proofreading the work of other interns. In addition, Zach also had the opportunity to do voice acting for educational material. He highlighted that the most rewarding part of the internship was to be able to apply his Indonesian language skills in writing and speaking when interacting with fellow interns and staff in CESASS. We closed the semester with a farewell dinner where Zach and other students from Semester programs as well as ACICIS staff enjoyed an exciting karaoke session while sharing their experience studying in Yogyakarta. ACICIS is beyond proud of what the students have achieved this semester! We wish Zach the best of luck for his future endeavours and beyond. Sampai bertemu lagi!
