The Doctoral Program in Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University held a webinar on impactful research on Youth Pledge Day 2025

• Posted by: Admin
• Sabtu, 1 November 2025
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The Doctoral Program in Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University, is organizing a webinar with the theme “Exploring Local Wisdom through Research with Universal Impact” as part of the 97th Youth Pledge Day celebrations, which will be held online on October 28, 2025. The webinar featured two keynote speakers, namely the Director of PPM, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Prof. I Ketut Adnyana, M.Si., Ph.D., and Putu Eka Guna Yasa (Ph.D. Student), Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – Paris/Lecturer at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Udayana University. The event was moderated by Dewa Ayu Carma Citrawati (Ph.D. Student) from Hamburg University and a lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University.

The event began with an introduction by the webinar organizer, Coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Cultural Studies at Udayana University, Prof. I Nyoman Darma Putra, Ph.D., followed by a speech from the Rector of Udayana University, Prof. Ir. I Ketut Sudarsana, S.T., Ph.D., who also opened the webinar. In his introductory remarks, Prof. Darma Putra said that the seminar aims to celebrate Youth Pledge Day and reflect on the spirit of service to the nation through impactful research. “Many of our friends in the Humanities find it difficult to develop impactful research proposals. Hopefully, this meeting will be inspiring,” said Prof. Darma Putra.

In his speech, Udayana University Rector Prof. Ir. I Ketut Sudarsana, S.T., Ph.D. emphasized the relevance of the theme to Udayana University's vision of developing culture-based research that is not only academically excellent but also provides broad benefits to the global community. Through the Core Scientific Pattern (PIP) of Culture, Udayana University places culture as a source of ideas, innovation, and solutions for contemporary issues ranging from traditional health, irrigation systems, arts, to the potential for developing wellness tourism based on local knowledge. According to the Rector, this webinar also highlights the importance of building an epistemic bridge between tradition and public policy. When local sources are studied using modern scientific methodologies, the results not only enrich academic knowledge but also provide scientific justification for cultural practices that have long been positioned as mere “customs.”

Thus, cultural research has the potential to influence the design of education, health, creative economy, and tourism management programs that are more contextual and related to the local identity of the community. It is hoped that this webinar will not merely be an academic ceremony, but a conceptual demonstration that the production of knowledge does not have to start from scratch. Indonesia has a reservoir of wisdom, which, when processed through disciplined research, can become a source of intellectual renewal, technological innovation, and ethical legitimacy for national and global policies. By conducting this webinar, Udayana University affirms its position as an institution that not only preserves tradition but also elevates it to the arena of global scientific discourse.

The first speaker, Putu Eka Guna Yasa, presented research entitled Wārabhoga, a study of the dietary discipline of Śiva ascetics in Kawi and Balinese literature, which shows that the relationship between diet, intellectual clarity, and mental endurance has long been present in local knowledge before being formulated in modern nutritional science. Through texts such as Lontar Tattva Brata, Geguritan Lodha, and Kakawin Rāmāyana, the ethics and rhythm of eating were found to be practices of self-discipline, which now find parallels in the concepts of mindful eating, circadian regulation, and autophagy. This perspective is positioned as a potential conceptual reference for modern public policy design, including the Nutritious food program for the golden generation of 2045.

In the second presentation session, the Director of PPM Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Prof. I Ketut Adnyana, M.Si., Ph.D., explained that Indonesian local wisdom such as Tri Hita Karana, Asta Bumi, Nyepi, and the ‘Tumpek’ ritual are not merely symbolic artifacts, but epistemic heritage that is compatible with modern science. Through the Satyam Siwam Sundaram framework, Prof. Adnyana emphasized that scientific truth, ethical usefulness, and beauty of expression need to be combined so that research does not stop at elitist knowledge, but produces measurable social impact. National schemes such as the Nusantara Arts Innovation Program (PISN) are cited as examples of integrative policies that convert local wisdom into a productive and output-oriented ecosystem of knowledge and innovation.

The event that was moderated by Dewa Ayu Carma Citrawati closed the discourse by emphasizing that local wisdom will only have a universal voice if it is critically reinterpreted, confronted with contemporary issues, and processed within the framework of impactful research. Udayana University hopes that this spirit will continue to take root in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional academic work, so that culture does not remain merely a memory, but becomes a conceptual engine for the future of science and humanity.