Students and faculty represent JMU at AI conference in Indonesia

In January, JMU participated in the International Student Conference (ISC) held in Bandung, Indonesia. The Center for Global Engagment supported two faculty and five students to attend the event. This year's conference topic was "Living with AI: Youth Navigating Innovation, Ethics and Impacts."

The faculty, Phillip Frana, Professor of Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies and Independent Scholars, and Muhammad Ittefaq, Assistant Professor in the School of Communication Studies, lead presentations about artificial intelligence and big data.

The students participated in workshops with participants from all over the globe, learned about Indonesia, and participated in a EU simulation competition. We had two JMU teams in the EU competition and both of them won. Congratulations to our teams for their hard work.

JMU student Tyler Paulin said the greatest thing about the trip was the cultural experiences. "Getting a chance to immerse myself in the culture during the Bahasa Indonesian BIPA lessons as well as the Batik Komar site visit was enjoyable because I got to learn about their traditions outside of the contexts we have from our own way of life. Being able to do that while surrounded by people from all over the globe was truly an amazing and unforgettable experience."

Another student, Maliyah Hickling echoed the impact of the trip. "I got the most out of the cultural exchange with our other students and people. It was unique in that I didn’t just only enjoy Indonesian culture— I got to experience many other cultures through meeting students from all over the world. That was something I will always carry away from the trip."

The Indonesia ISC 2026 experience demonstrated what learning looks like in a global classroom—students navigating airports together, coordinating logistics across 12 time zones, learning from worldwide faculty, and engaging with multiple cultures.