Public Relations of UPNVJ - The Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) of the National Development University “Veteran” Jakarta (UPNVJ) received a courtesy visit from one of the Philippines' leading universities, the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Tuesday, April 15, 2025.

This visit has long been discussed through online meetings last year, and is now implemented in the framework of “Research Dissemination and Workshop Research Collaboration.”

The UST delegation consisted of five academics, including Dean of the Department of History Prof. Melanie DP Turingan, Ph.D.

Taking place in the Dean's Room and Auditorium of FISIP UPNVJ, the event began with an introduction session between the two campuses in an effort to encourage the realization of research collaboration and exchange of lecturers and students.

An intense dialogue between Prof. Melanie and the Dean of FISIP UPNVJ S. Bekti Istiyanto took place in this session, also attended by the Head of Department and Head of the UPNVJ Politics and International Relations Study Program and several other lecturers.

Both deans welcomed the cooperation that will continue in the future. Prof. Melanie hopes that FISIP UPNVJ can make a return visit and fill an event at UST, Philippines.

"We hope Bekti and his colleagues can visit UST. We are waiting for you all," said Prof. Melanie

Bekti welcomed with joy. “We want to visit your campus. We are excited to go to the Philippines,” he said.

In the friendly session, UPNVJ and UST exchanged souvenirs and signed the Implementation Agreement (IA). Both activities were carried out by the Dean of FISIP UPNVJ, Dr. S Bekti Istiyanto and Vice Dean III, Musa Maliki, PhD. Meanwhile, from UST, there were the Dean of History, Prof. Melanie DP Turingan, Ph.D. and the Head of the History Department, Assoc. Prof. Archie B. Resos, Ph.D.

Academic Diplomacy

This symbolic event indicates mutual respect between UPNVJ and UST, and can also be seen as diplomacy in academic framework. UPNVJ and UST have high hopes to help each other grow their respective universities and contribute to the scientific field in Southeast Asia.

After the exchange of souvenirs and the signing of the IA, the five UST academics moved to the FISIP Auditorium to fill a collaborative research workshop session. This activity was designed like a research workshop so that lecturers and students could collaborate compactly.

Prof. Melanie explained her initial research on “Philippine–Indonesian Relations: A Partnership between Two Republics.” She talked about the process of how her research was conducted and what the substance was in it.

After Prof. Melanie, Assoc. Prof. Janet C. Atutubo, Ph.D. gave an insight into “Lumad Society in Mindanao, Philippines.” She gave a quite different research approach, namely history is very dominant in their approach, but the anthropological touch is also quite interesting.

A very interesting moment came from Assoc. Prof. Archie B. Resos, Ph.D., who critically and ironically examined the political landscape in his presentation titled “Political Culture and Partisanship: Distortions and Directions of Philippine Democracy: 1986–2022.”

Building Knowledge

In his analysis of history and political science, Dr. Resos argues that democracy is only compatible in America, but not in the Philippines. In the Philippines, the family culture is very strong, and people tend to easily forget the dark events of the past.

Other speakers included Gian Paolo R. Mayo, MA, who discussed “Leadership Mandate: Veteran Presidents in the Philippines,” and Ms. Irene G. Borras, MA, who reviewed “Japan and East Asian Regionalism.” The event was moderated by UPNVJ International Relations lecturer, M. Kamil Ghiffary A., M.Si, and closed with a group photo session.

This UST visit is one indicator that UPNVJ has received attention in the international arena. Collaboration with UST is considered very important in the spirit of building science in Southeast Asia.

UPNVJ and UST hope that the collaboration of lecturer and student exchanges can be realized soon, and the collaboration can be expanded to other faculties or departments, including Communication Sciences.