UNAIR NEWS – Prof. Dr. Phil Toetik Koesbardiati was officially inaugurated as a professor in the field of Paleoanthropology. She received this academic title after the inauguration ceremony of Professor at Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), at Garuda Mukti Hall, Management Office, MERR-C UNAIR Campus, Thursday, July 27, 2023.
At the inauguration ceremony, Prof. Toetik delivered her scientific oration: Giving opportunities to the dead to speak. Through that oration, she explained the importance of the role of Paleoanthropology, the field of science she focuses on.
About her work
Prof. Toetik explained that Paleoanthropology is a sub-section of Physical Anthropology. Paleoanthropology has a very broad field of study, including about human development.
Human development can be seen through human migration activities that occurred in the past. This migration activity, said Prof. Toetik, was an opening for the emergence of physical and cultural diversity as it is today. For this reason, knowledge of the development process is important to understand to avoid discrimination between human groups.
“If we understand human development and migration, then we will not discriminate against others. Because, we know that when migration from various populations joins, they all will form diversity. Diversity is diversity. It cannot be standardized,” said the UNAIR Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) lecturer .
Role of Paleoanthropology
Furthermore, the Surabaya native explained that Paleoanthropology has a broad scope. This science does not only study humans in the past, but also in the present context. Therefore, this science is often applied to other multidisciplinary sciences, especially in studying problems in society.
Although enthusiasts of this science are relatively rare, said Prof. Toetik, Paleoanthropology has a very important role as a supporting part of research in other fields. Evidently, Prof. Toetik has been heavily involved in research and identification activities with parties in Medicine and Forensics.
“Thank you to the Center for Medicine and Health of the Republic of Indonesia National Police and the East Java Regional Police Medicine and Health (Dokkes), as well as colleagues from forensic medicine who always involve me in every identification activity,” said the 22nd UNAIR FISIP Professor.
Estuary of science
Prof. Toetik explained that one of the estuaries of Paleoanthropology that she has been working on was the establishment of Museum of Ethnography and Center for Death Studies FISIP UNAIR. Prof. Toetik collaborates with various parties, including foreign institutions and academics. Prof. Toetik hoped that the existence of the museum could become one of the main learning facilities owned by UNAIR.
“I have realized the estuary of this knowledge in the form of the FISIP Ethnography Museum. Hopefully this museum can become an excellent learning tool because of many interesting collections. Then we also hope to build cooperation with foreign academics, so we hope that this museum can be more advanced in the future,” she said. (*)
Author: Yulia Rohmawati
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
