by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hadina Habil, Language Academy, FSSH, UTM
JOHOR BAHRU, 30 Sept. – The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSH) had successfully organized an international conference from 26thSeptember to 29th September 2022 virtually. This conference, known as The International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities or TICSSH 2022, brought together all the four schools and academies under its wing. The theme of the conference was Rehumanizing the society: The role of social sciences and humanities in nation building.
TICSSH 2022, a four-day event, was planned in such a way that 4 themed based conferences were hosted by the schools and academies under the faculty starting on Day 2.
Day 1 for TICSSH 2022 started with speeches from renowned speakers who were invited to speak about topics which were their forte. The keynote speakers were chosen based on their expertise. All the sessions on Day 1 were broadcasted live via Stream yard and FSSH Facebook.
Keynote speaker one was YBhg. Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, IIUM Rector with the speech titled The role of social sciences and humanities in nation-building – The Sejahtera perspective.
His interesting talk discussed the important events taking place surrounding us and how understanding those events would give value and meaning to our life. The keyword of ‘kesejahteraan’ or wellbeing should take priority in this industrialised world.
The second keynote speech was by YBhg. Prof. Datin Dr. Ruzy Suliza Hashim, UKM; Her talk touched on Re-humanising the Society: Making Our Research Relevant in Times of Crisis. Prof Datin also highlighted various research work that have been conducted and still need to be conducted to in order to respond to current situation.
Prof. Dr. Srikant Kumar Sarangi, Aalborg University; Adjunct Professor for Language Academy, FSSH being the third keynote speaker delivered his speech on The Limits of Disciplinary Vision and Boundary Work: Respecifying The Research-Practice Interface in Human and Social Sciences. He talked about doing research that crosses boundary and why it is important to do so given the complexity of the society that we are living.
Besides highlighting the keynote speakers, TICSSH 2022 also invited YBhg. Dato’ Seri Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang, the Secretary General, Ministry of Environment and Water, and a former UTM Vice Chancellor to talk about The Role of Social Sciences and Humanities in Nation Building from Social Innovation perspective. DS Zaini Ujang highlighted how people in the society have roles to play in ensuring the sustainability of our resources for a better future.
The second invited speaker was YBrs. Prof. Dr. Haim Hilman Abdullah, the UUM Vice Chancellor, with a speech titled the Role of Academics in Developing Values in Nation Building. His talk touched on how academics can empower students to become problem solvers and in turn, enhance human capital skills for nation building.
In addition to speeches from renowned speakers, TICSSH 2022 also lined up panellists for a forum in the afternoon. The panellists represented different sectors who deliberated on this topic: The Role of Social Sciences and Humanities In Nation Building: Issues And Challenges.
They were Raja Azmi Adam, Director, Public Sector Sales Google Cloud Malaysia; Prof. Intan AhmadfromSchool of Life Sciences and Technology Institut Teknologi Bandung; Prof. Datuk Dr. Habibah Abdul Rahim Adjunct Professor of FSSH, UTM and also the former secretary general of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia; and Prof. Dr. Zaidatun Tasir, former dean of FSSH, UTM.
The forum was allocated about two hours and each panellist discussed the issues and challenges based on their expertise in three rounds moderated by Prof. Dr Hamdan, a professor at the School of Education, FSSH, UTM.
Day 2 of TICSSH 2022 highlighted 2 conferences, the Virtual Language and Communication Postgraduate International Seminar (VLCPIS 2022) and the International Conference on Education (ICE 2022) hosted by Language Academy and the School of Education respectively. VLCPIS 2022 chose Empowering Society through language and communication as its theme while ICE 2022 picked Education for 21st Century Learning as its theme.
Each of the conference showcased keynote speakers who are UTM experts and also external experts from Malaysia and other countries.
Day 3 of TICSSH 2022 was actually the second day of the conference for VLCPIS and ICE, but it marked the starting of two other themed-based conferences, the International Seminar on Social and Behavioural Sciences (ISSS 2022) and the 2ndInternational Webinar on Islamic Studies and Civilisation (IWISC 2022) hosted by the School of Human Resource Development and Psychology (SHARPS) and the Academy of Islamic Civilisation respectively.
Another event that went on during the same week of TICSSH 2022 was the international research carnival known as I-Rich 2022. This carnival received submissions of research ideas and projects by students and academics. All submissions were done online and the result of the competitions were announced during the closing ceremony of TICSSH 2022.
TICSSH 2022 Director, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hadina Habil in her closing speech, touched on how synergy has enabled the faculty to organise an international event which was broadcasted online via Facebook and Webex platform. The coming together of the different teams managed to ensure that all conferences hosted by the different schools and academies were successfully organised.
The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities hopes that this international conference and research carnival will remain a feature of its academic activities for its students and staff while also providing platforms for academic and research exchanges for its students, staff, industry partners and collaborators in years to come.
Recordings of TICSSH 2022 Day 1 speeches can be found on FSSH Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/humanities.utm/videos/493089782435919
Details about the conference can be found at https://humanities.utm.my/ticssh2022/
The writer is the Director for the International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (TICSSH 2022). She is an associate professor at Language Academy, FSSH, UTM.
