In 2024, the Center for Life-Span Development (CLSD) collaborated with the Center for Indigenous and Cultural Psychology (CICP) of the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, to organize a summer course event titled “International Summer Course on Cultural Dynamics and Life-Span Development: Research Approaches and Practical Interventions”.
This marks the second time CLSD has organized a summer course, with the first being held in 2021.
This summer course serves as a channel to discuss the contemporary issues regarding cultural dynamics and life-span development in which the students will look at the current research and interventions through panel presentations conducted by experts. This course aims to deepen students’ understanding of the role culture plays in life-span development as well as offering valuable insights into current research methodologies and approaches relevant to cultural and lifespan development, which is connected to fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as Quality Education (4) and Reduced Inequalities (10). This course utilizes several different learning methods for the students, such as online lectures, independent study, and modular discussions. All of the courses are conducted in English and closed captioning is provided.
For this course, we invited nine international speakers and five national speakers with various backgrounds and fields of expertise from various parts of the world, such as Denmark, Italy, Australia, Malaysia, and the United States. This course is attended by 47 students, 43 from Indonesia and 4 from various countries such as Denmark, Germany, Nepal, and Australia.
This course consisted of three different modules, each highlighting different aspects of cultural dynamics and life-span development delivered by the speakers. Module 1, titled Understanding Culture and Life-Span Development: Concept and Current Perspectives focuses on the paradigm of culture and how it is contextualized with today’s global conditions.
| Date | Time (GMT +7) | Agenda | Speakers |
| Tuesday, 17 September 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Redefining Culture in current context | Prof. Jaan Valsiner and Prof. Giuseppina Marsico |
| Wednesday, 18 September 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | (Global North–Global South) culture interactions and how it shapes life-span development | Prof. Jaan Valsiner and Prof. Giuseppina Marsico |
| Thursday, 19 September 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Polyculturalism in understanding lifespan development in current society | Prof. Emiko Kashima |
| Friday, 20 September 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | A critique of life course intervention | Prof. Peter van Eeuwijk |
Module 2, titled Methods for Contextual Life-Span Development: Research and Intervention dives into the methodologies for researching human development, which covers the integration of cultural diversity, optimally utilizing action research and photovoice techniques, and the ethical principles inherent in this field.
| Date | Time (GMT +7) | Agenda | Speakers |
| Wednesday, 25 September 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Contextual action research in developmental psychology using Photovoice | Dr. Elga Andriana |
| Thursday, 26 September 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Ethical practice in integrating life-span development research and intervention | Dr. Andrian Liem |
The last module, titled Thematic Explorations of Contextual Research and Intervention on Life-Span Development has two distinct sessions; research and intervention. The research session will dive into the utilization of cultural and indigenous methodologies within life-span developmental research. While the intervention session delves into the significance of cultural considerations in interventions, such as youth dynamics, addressing bullying, and the empowerment of older adults.
| Date | Time (GMT +7) | Agenda | Speakers |
| Friday, 27 September 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Social relations in the Javanese context | Prof. Faturochman |
| Tuesday, 1 October 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | An Indonesian Indigenous perspective of life-span development | Ryan Sugiarto |
| Wednesday, 2 October 2024 | 19:00-21:00 | Digital society and life-span development | Dr. Jessica Navarro |
| Thursday, 3 October 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Collaborative life-span development intervention | Dr. Sutarimah Ampuni and Dr. Yuni Hastutiningsih |
| Monday, 7 October 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Research with children and youth in the context of migration | Dr. Roy Huijsmans |
| Tuesday, 8 October 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Empowering Older Adults | Prof. Elisabeth Schröder-Butterfill |
| Friday, 11 October 2024 | 16:00-18:00 | Risk and resilience in developmental diversity: Learning from Deaf culture | Surya Sahetapy |
After attending all the sessions, there is a student-led conference held on Monday, 14 October 2024. This conference has the students create a research proposal based off of the materials from the lectures as the course learning outcome. With that, the International Summer Course, which ran from 17 September to 14 October 2024, with a total of 13 sessions, 14 speakers from 9 countries, and 47 participants from 5 countries, has come to an end.
A huge thank you to our speakers for sharing their knowledge and valuable insights on cultural dynamics and lifespan development. We are also deeply grateful to all participants for their active engagement, attendance, and thoughtful contributions during the sessions. We look forward to welcoming you at our future events! [MWK]