AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies

Michigan State University is pleased to co-host the inaugural AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies, in collaboration with the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS). The virtual event will be held from June 23 - 26, 2021.

The Program Committee welcomes proposals for panels, roundtables, and individual paper presentations on history, culture, anthropology, sociology, language, and arts related to Indonesia, and research advancing understandings of the ways that historical, sociocultural, economic, and political contexts shape contemporary and historical issues in Indonesia.

Submission Deadline: 31 March 2021 (11:59 pm EDT)

Types of Proposal Submission

Paper Presentation - Regular Session (Individual Submission)

Individuals may submit abstracts for paper presentations. The Conference organizers will form panels based on accepted abstracts submitted. The panel sessions are 90 minutes long with a maximum of 4 live paper presentations (15 minute each), followed by a discussion. A session chair will moderate and monitor time. Presenters are encouraged to volunteer as session chairs for the panel in which they are presenting. Paper presentation submission includes an abstract of up to 300 words. Each person may only submit one individual paper abstract.

Paper Presentation - Flip-Session (Individual Submission)

The organizers will similarly form panels for flip-sessions based on accepted proposals submitted by individuals. Presenters whose proposals have been accepted into a flip-session panel must submit a pre-recorded presentation prior to the conference (as a link to the recording on a cloud storage or a personal online media channel). The length of the presentation should be between 15 to 20 minutes. Flip-sessions during the conference dates are 30 minutes long consisting of a discussion among the audience and the presenters, with the assumption that session participants have watched the pre-recorded presentations prior to attending the session. All presenters in a flip-session panel are highly encouraged to watch pre-recorded presentations of their fellow panelists prior to the session. The organizers may assign session hosts to moderate the discussion, but welcome suggestions from presenters of individuals to serve as hosts. Paper presentation submission for flip-sessions includes an abstract of up to 300 words. Each person may only submit one individual paper abstract.

Panel Session (Group Submission)

A group of presenters may propose a panel session of 3 or 4 presentations based on work that share a set of common themes, issues, or research questions. The panel sessions are 90 minutes long. The panel organizers must identify a session chair and a discussant (who must also register for the conference) in the proposal submission. The organizers encourage panel submissions to demonstrate diversity in terms of gender and institution. We especially welcome panels with presenters from different countries. Panel session submission includes a panel abstract of up to 500 words, and individual paper abstracts of up to 300 words.

Refereed Roundtable Session (Group Submission)

Round-table sessions are intended to foster connections and substantive exchanges among a community of researchers and practitioners on a collaborative project, or a particular issue with implications on research and policy. The roundtable sessions are 90 minutes long and feature up to 4 presentations on the roundtable topic, as such the presentations do not have individual separate titles. Roundtable organizers should identify a session chair who will moderate the discussion. The roundtable session submission includes a brief description of the intended discussion for the roundtable of up to 500 words, and a preliminary list of invited participants (including name, affiliation, and contact information, who must also register for the conference). 

Click below button to submit your abstract!

For any inquiries, please contact us through:

unnamed (1).png

ELAN Workshop for Language Preservation: Software in Linguistics and Audio recordings

Interested in using ELAN and audio recordings for local language preservation? Check out our latest video - ELAN & Audacity for Local Language Preservation: A virtual workshop Part 1 on AIFIS YouTube channel.

This online workshop aims to equip linguists with the hands-on skills to use the two software

https://youtu.be/R1GGBSQGEo8

2.PNG

A Guide to AIFIS’s support of Javanese Wayang Kulit with Translation by Kathryn “Kitsie” Emerson, Solo, Central Java

A Guide to AIFIS’s support of​ Javanese Wayang Kulit​ with Translation by Kathryn “Kitsie” Emerson, Solo, Central Java

In 2004, I developed the concept of translating Javanese ​wayang kulit ​on the spot, spontaneously during a performance, so that foreign audiences who do not understand Javanese would have access to the beauty and complexity of this artform. These translations cannot be perfect, given that they are conducted in the moment. What they provide instead of careful word-smithing is real-time interpretation of the performance, as though the listener has a friend whispering into their ear at the wayang site, offering meaning, context, and insider tips for appreciating the show. At times, the friend might even say “Oh wait, I was wrong—this is not his uncle, it’s his long-lost brother-in-law,” or some such correction in the moment.

As technologies have progressed, and into the era of live streaming, this work has continued and over the past 16 years I have translated wayang on more than 250 times, an average of 15 or so performances per year, or consistently more than once a month for 16 years. These wayang shows have been primarily by the superstar artist Ki Purbo Asmoro—on 115 occasions​1—and the other 100 or so by more than 50 other dhalang in the greater Solo, Central Java area. I have translated more than 70 different stories in all, using this simultaneous interpretation.

A few years ago, I conducted a number of workshops at UGM in Yogyakarta in order to train translators in this specific skill of simultaneous interpretation of wayang. I trained a number of students and professors there, resulting in a team that has translated the performances for the annual “Hari Wayang Dunia” at ISI Surakarta since 2015 into English, Indonesian, French, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, and Spanish.

Until now, this work has all been completely at my own expense, including hiring the technicians needed to live stream and project the translation. ​However, as of November 2020, AIFIS has been providing generous support for these translation efforts. ​This living document will be updated at the end of each month and will detail the performances supported by AIFIS and how to access them. I would like to express my deepest thanks for this generous support, and my hopes that this partnership, the kernel of which started with my work as an undergraduate in the Music Department at Cornell University in the 1980s and getting to know Professor Marty Hatch, will continue far into the future. (8 January 2021)

To see our past Wayang Virtual Performances in 2020, please click the link below!

AIFIS Support of Wayang in Translation 2020-2021.K Emerson (1)


Virtual Classes organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Washington DC in the Fall period (September - December 2020) opens virtual classes for learning:

1.Indonesian Language,
2.Jaipongan Dance,
3.Javanese Singing (Langgam/Nyinden),
4.Angklung Playing and Singing Indonesian songs.

Registration on the link: http://bit.ly/KBRI_courses

Donate