Fulbright Specialist Dr Kathleen M. Adams, professor emerita, Loyola University Chicago and professorial research associate, SOAS, University of London, recently completed a successful collaboration with the Cultural Tourism Studies Program at the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta. The collaboration aimed to support the program’s development and visibility via a series of public guest lectures, national online conversations, classroom exercises with students, and curriculum review. The project also sought to foster international research collaborations with UGM faculty members and to improve students’ and faculty members’ success in publishing in international academic journals.

Dr Adams observed that UGM is one of Indonesia’s premier universities, with exceptional faculty and students. Moreover, as she noted, the university is well-situated for developing a highly regarded, landmark cultural tourism studies program, given its location near several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which serve as rich research settings. Dr Adams was drawn to the program because of faculty interest in further developing research agendas aimed at “lassoing tourism for good,” channeling tourism towards enhancing the quality of life for local communities.

While in residence at UGM, Dr. Adams delivered several hybrid lectures to audiences within and beyond the university. Dr. Adams explained that these lectures were “designed to introduce cultural approaches to tourism, showcasing the vitality of the field and how the current program complements and enhances classic tourism management and professional training programs.” Topics included “Critical Approaches in Cultural Tourism: Lessons from the Pacific Rim” and “Tourism Research Methodology: Ethnographic Methods.” She also delivered guest lectures in heritage studies, archaeology, and tourist arts classes on “Souvenirs as Research Objects” and “Museums, Communities, and Conflicts over Sacred Heritage Objects: Challenges and Possibilities for Righting Past Wrongs.”

While in Yogyakarta, Dr. Adams consulted with the Tourism Studies Program faculty on their undergraduate curriculum and helped strategize to develop their existing bachelor’s (S1) study program into a department (and eventual master’s and doctorate programs). She and Tourism Studies Program director Dr Wiwik Sushartami also met with the dean and vice-deans of the UGM’s Cultural Studies Division to convey the program’s accomplishments and secure support for its eventual expansion.

Several exciting international collaborations emerged from the visit. First, several Cultural Tourism Program faculty members will join Loyola University Chicago’s international research collaborative initiative on “Local Tensions and Conflict Prevention in Indonesia.” These faculty members will be examining local strategies for mitigating tourism-related conflicts, among other things. In tandem with this initiative, Dr Adams visited several tourist sites where new developments posed challenges for local tourism-oriented communities, including a site in Central Java where new highway construction has severely disrupted the livelihoods of eco-tourism-focused communities.

A second collaboration centers on repatriating stolen sacred burial materials, a topic close to Dr. Adams’ heart: “My long-term anthropological work in the Toraja highlands of Indonesia enabled me to see the devastation wrought by the thieving of their sacred mortuary effigies. Recently, my writings about these thefts have reached curators and collectors interested in righting past wrongs. However, working alone from the USA, I lacked the networks to foster these returns. Thanks to my time at UGM, I’ll work with Dr. Tular Sudarmadi in the Tourism Studies Program and his international network to see that these effigies are returned to their homeland.”