BENGKEL DIPLOMASI BUDAYA DI SMK PGRI 1 KOTA TANGERANG

Abstract

This article discusses the result of community service (pengabdian kepada masyarakat) held by the International Relations Study Programme, Universitas Budi Luhur, in the first semester of 2018/2019 at SMK PGRI 1 Kota Tangerang. The service was conducted to support the National Literacy Movement and to improve youth skills in facing cultural differences in Indonesia. Globalization and modernization provide us many opportunities as well as challenges in education, particularly in terms of cultural literacy and tolerance among youth, as they tend to demonstrate lower levels of awareness. For this reason, underage students need special attention from adults, especially in improving their behavior in a multicultural society. Even if they represent our future generations, young students are still physically and psychologically underdeveloped. Therefore, this diplomatic course could be one of the solutions to improve their dialogue skills, i.e. in reaching a compromise and consensus. It is in line with Indonesia’s local wisdom of ‘gotong royong’ and tolerance. Therefore, this program focuses on encouraging youth contribution and internalization of values of local wisdom in creating peace and harmony. The results show that the participants (students) (1) have a high level of potential in cultural literacy, since they are supported by enhanced information and communication technology, and (2) have been able to establish a well structured text in promoting Indonesian culinary and batik.

Keyword: diplomacy, culinary culture, batik, literacy, academic writing.