Can a Conference Be Both Local and Global? IO UIN SSC’s AsiaCALL 2025 Preparation Blends Hybrid Engagement and Cross-Campus Participation
Cirebon, July 29 2025 — The International Office and Partnership of UIN Siber Syekh Nurjati Cirebon (UIN SSC), led by Lala Bumela, Ph.D., has officially initiated preparation for AsiaCALL 2025, an international academic conference scheduled for November 2025. The strategic meeting was attended by the Global Engagement Team (GET Team)—the internal arm responsible for international affairs and cross-border cooperation—along with faculty representatives and technical coordinators from multiple university sectors. The initiative seeks to unify both global and regional educational stakeholders, targeting participation not only from international academics but also English education students across regional campuses in West Java, including Kuningan, Majalengka, Bandung, and the greater Cirebon area.
In his opening remarks, Lala Bumela, Ph.D. emphasized the multidimensional nature of this year’s AsiaCALL initiative: “We are designing AsiaCALL 2025 not as a conventional conference, but as a transformative academic platform—where locality and globality do not compete, but rather complement each other in a shared intellectual space.” This vision sets the tone for an immersive and inclusive gathering where students, scholars, and practitioners are invited to engage across both digital and physical spaces.
The meeting addressed key technical preparations, including the structuring of a hybrid event model, wherein approximately half of the presenters will participate online while the remaining will join on-site. To accommodate this complexity, the proposed budget (RAB) will adopt a repeating accumulation structure to ensure sustainable financial support throughout the planning and execution phases. Moreover, a targeted increase in international speakers and delegates is already underway, with coordinated outreach managed through both formal institutional communication (Gmail) and informal messaging streams (WhatsApp), optimizing responsiveness and continuity.
Elaborating further, Lala Bumela, Ph.D. stated: “AsiaCALL 2025 is not only about academic publication—it is about educational diplomacy. Our method is grounded in emotional awareness, technological efficiency, and scholarly responsibility. This is how we bring UIN SSC to the global stage.” His perspective reaffirms the university’s commitment to infusing emotion-aware communication within the core of academic interaction, particularly in digital correspondence that requires both clarity and empathy.
In line with the internationalization roadmap of UIN SSC, the GET Team has mapped out specific strategies to empower local academic communities to participate in the AsiaCALL experience. These include actively inviting English language students from regional campuses to engage in preparatory sessions and future conference panels. By doing so, the event will not only enrich the scholarly environment of UIN SSC but also position the university as a regional academic hub that connects rural and urban knowledge networks through digital infrastructure.
Concluding the meeting, the International Office reaffirmed its institutional dedication to hosting AsiaCALL 2025 as a hybrid, emotion-aware, and impact-driven conference. Under the leadership of Lala Bumela, Ph.D., UIN SSC is reimagining what it means to organize an academic event in the age of post-pandemic transformation—one that is deeply rooted in local identity while fully embracing global intellectual exchange. This upcoming AsiaCALL conference stands as both a milestone and a message: that international collaboration begins at home, but speaks to the world.
Author: Muhammad Azkiya Bahtsulkhoir