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Schedule a meeting now! Get advice from our admission expert Katharina. Request a spot in our meeting hub and we will call you back!
Refer a friend - Save 100€! Refer a friend, enroll together for this summer school, and save both 100 Euro! Refer a friend!
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Schedule a meeting now! Get advice from our admission expert Katharina. Request a spot in our meeting hub and we will call you back!
Refer a friend - Save 100€! Refer a friend, enroll together for this summer school, and save both 100 Euro! Refer a friend!
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Upskill Bali Intercultural Communication Short Course
Student Presentations on Tourism and the ‘Real Bali’ at Udayana University
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At Upskill and FISIP Udayana University, the Intercultural Communication Short Course is designed to spark dialogue, not deliver easy answers. Its main goal is to create a space where students can wrestle with complexity, embrace misunderstandings as a pathway to clarity, and develop the skills of patience, tolerance, grace, and respect. We believe that these exchanges not only sharpen academic insight but also nurture self-confidence, self-growth, self-discovery, and self-expression qualities that every student, regardless of major, can carry into the future.
As a culmination of the program, students from Cardiff University prepared their final presentations critiquing Lisa Qian’s article “Real Bali as a Western Construct.” They were divided into two groups, with each side tasked to represent opposing views: one group taking the “Con” position, questioning Qian’s argument and emphasizing the damages of overtourism, and the other group taking the “Pro” position, defending Qian’s thesis that Bali was never authentically “pure” to begin with.
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Group 1: The Case Against Qian’s Argument (Con)
This group argued that Qian dismisses the very real consequences of overtourism. They emphasized that:
Balinese culture has continuity. From Bali Aga to Majapahit to colonial eras, culture has adapted but remained rooted. Declaring it “inauthentic” undermines this history.
Local voices matter. By critiquing Western romanticism while writing from a Western standpoint herself, Qian risks repeating colonial habits.
Tourism’s damages are undeniable. Water scarcity, deforestation, plastic waste, and stressed infrastructure are tangible threats that cannot be reduced to nostalgia.
Heritage can be preserved. Local communities, such as leaders behind traditional dances, are actively balancing tradition with modern realities.
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Group 2: In Support of Qian’s Thesis (Pro)
The second group defended Qian’s perspective, insisting that Bali’s supposed “authentic culture” is already a Western-made idea. Their key arguments included:
Colonial construction. Dutch officials and artists “froze” Bali as a cultural museum, shaping outsiders’ expectations of what Bali should be.
Tourism as survival. Rituals and practices performed for tourists may transform, but they are also kept alive through these performances.
Language and power. Branding and tourism policies privilege Indonesian and English while reducing Balinese to symbolic use, yet this shows adaptation rather than simple loss.
Tourism sustains tradition. Without economic input from tourism, many rituals, ceremonies, and religious practices might not be performed as widely as they are today.
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A Room Alive with Questions
The atmosphere of the seminar was heightened by the presence of undergraduate International Relations and Communication students from Udayana University, who joined the discussion and raised challenging questions. Some asked whether the presenters truly agreed or disagreed with the positions they had represented. Others pushed further, asking if the international students had any advice on how Bali could manage its tourism industry while preserving cultural traditions and “authenticity.”
This last point authenticity became one of the most debated topics of the afternoon. What does it mean to be authentic? Is authenticity a static essence to be preserved, or is it an evolving practice shaped by history, adaptation, and globalization? The discussion revealed that authenticity itself is a contested, dynamic concept, and it was here that the dialogue became most exciting.
Adding richness to the seminar was the presence of several lecturers from FISIP Udayana University, who had been guiding students throughout the summer course. Among them were:
Dra. Nazrina Suryani, M.A., Ph.D. (Sociology)
Sukma Sushanti, S.S., M.Si and Dr. Putu Titah Kawitri Resen, S.IP., M.A (International Relations)
Calvin Damas Emil, S.I.Kom., M.Si and Dr. Ni Nyoman Dewi Pascarini, S.S., M.Si (Communication Studies)
Richard Togaranta Ginting, S.Sos., M.Hum (Perpustakaan / University Library)
Their attendance underscored the collaborative nature of the program, where teaching staff, international students, and local students meet as co-learners in dialogue.
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Shared Reflections
Despite their different stances, both groups and the wider audience recognized that:
Bali’s culture is adaptive and evolving rather than fixed.
Tourism is both a challenge and a resource.
The very concept of “authenticity” deserves to be questioned and redefined.
The seminar ran exactly as the program intends: a healthy fire of arguments, counterarguments, agreements, and disagreements proof that misunderstandings, when engaged with respect, lead to deeper understanding. These exchanges are at the core of what the Intercultural Communication Short Course stands for.
We warmly encourage students from all majors, from every corner of the world, to consider this short course not only as an academic program but as a journey of self-discovery, growth, and intercultural awareness. It is an experience that equips students to listen, to question, to express, and ultimately to practice the very values that make global citizens thrive: tolerance, patience, and respect.
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By LK
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