The Humanities Faculty at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) hosted the Outbound Class for the Cross-Cultural Understanding Class (CCU). The outbound encouraged students to get in touch with cultural assimilations and acculturations in Semarang City.

The event involves 60 English students. On that occasion, students visited various historical sites in Semarang, including the Old Town, the Jami Pekojan Mosque, and the Tay Kak Sie Temple. This was done to observe the forms of cultural acculturations and assimilations directly.

During her interview, Dr. Neni Kurniawati, M.Hum—a faculty member in charge of the CCU class—explained that the Outbound Class was a learning method conducted outside the classrooms. It aimed to offer a distinct learning experience to students.

“We are committed to not only offering a lesson concerning cultural acculturation and assimilation through a theoretical lens but also through a practical lens by observing the historical locations directly,” she uttered.

At the Tay Kak Sie temple, students were taught by Andre Wahyudi, the caretaker of the temple. On that occasion, students were introduced to Tridharma, various activities at the temple, the deities at the temple, the Ciam Si ritual, and Chinese culture. Apart from that, they also learned about the harmonious relationship between local and Chinese cultures, which have assimilated into the daily lives of Semarang citizens.

Dr. Neni added that learning motivations from students were among the reasons why the Outbound Class CCU was hosted in the first place. She hoped that the outbound class could motivate students to learn even more from this Cross-Cultural Understanding class.

“The Outbound class will certainly help students in learning new things concerning cultural acculturation and assimilation in Semarang City. Hopefully, this outbound can be held more routinely for the Cross-Cultural Understanding class of various study programs,” she said.

The outbound spanned from December 2 to 5, 2024. Not only did students learn the cultural aspects, but they also learned the historical and social aspects within the areas they visited. At the Old Town of Semarang, they observed the architectures, which reflect the combination of European and Javanese cultures. Meanwhile, at the Jami Pekojan Mosque, students learned how the religion of Islam was spread by merchants from Gujarat, as well as the acculturation with the pre-existing local cultures.

The Outbound Class is expected to be routinely conducted as a way to learn Cross-Cultural Understanding at Udinus, considering the big impact it inflicted on students. This activity serves as a tangible form of an innovative learning process, focusing on practice in addition to theory. (Humas Udinus/Alex. Foto: Dok. FIB Udinus)