Overview

The Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) of Andalas University was officially established on May 13, 1993 based on the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 0202/0/1993. The effort to establish FISIP has been carried out for a long time, and was carried out by a team chaired by Prof. Dr. Abdul Aziz Saleh, MA, who at that time served as Dean of the Faculty of Letters, Andalas University. At the beginning of the establishment of FISIP Prof. Dr. Abdul Aziz Saleh, MA was entrusted to be the dean’s official until the election of the dean. In 1994, the election of the dean was held by the FISIP Senate, with the dean elected Dahrul Dahlan, SH, for the period 1994 to 1998.

At the beginning of its establishment, FISIP had two majors, namely the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Sociology. These two majors are transfers of existing majors in the Faculty of Letters of Andalas University. With the establishment of FISIP, in accordance with the grouping of fields of science, the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Sociology were made into departments at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. This means that the establishment of FISIP is inseparable from the existence of the Faculty of Letters of Andalas University which has existed since 1982.

The desire to establish the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences has existed since the establishment of Andalas University on September 13, 1956. Preparations for establishing the faculty were further strengthened by its inclusion in the Ten-Year Development Master Plan of Andalas University for the period 1980-1989. After that, in collaboration with the Jakarta Social Sciences Foundation and the West German Volkswagen Stiftung, Andalas University organized a preparatory workshop for the opening of the faculty in early 1980. On the recommendation of this workshop, Andalas University proposed the opening of the Faculty of Socio-Cultural Affairs to the Ministry of Education and Culture. On March 7, 1980, with the approval of the Directorate General of Higher Education, the Rector of Andalas University formed a preparatory committee, by decree. No.775/ PT.19.0/F-1980, consisting of Dr. Mochtar Naim; Drs.(now Prof.Dr.) Amir Hakim Usman; Drs. Edwar; (now Prof. Dr.) Sofyan Talib, SH, and Drs. Tamsin Medan (Alm). This committee was refined again on September 19, 1980 with SK.nNo.3198/PT. O/F.1980, by appointing Dr. Mochtar Naim as its chairman. This committee is equipped with an Advisory Team, Academic Facilities Preparation Team, Astn Preparation and Development Team. Experts, and Physical and Administrative Facilities Preparation Teams. Furthermore, this committee is equipped with the formation of a Task Force that prepares the curriculum for the fields of study of each department, namely the Fields of Literature, History, and Social Sciences.

In an effort to develop and develop the faculty, on 19nSeptember 1980 an agreement was reached as stated in the Charter of Cooperation between Andalas University and IKIP Padang signed by the Rector of Andalas University, Drs. Mawardi Yunus, and the Rector of IKIP Padang, Prof.Dr. Jakub Isman. A consortium team of Literature and Philosophy, representing the Directorate General of Higher Education came to Andalas University to review and conduct an evaluation on the preparation and possibility of opening the faculty. The team recommended opening the Faculty of Letters and at the same time opening departments in the field of Social Sciences which were temporarily superimposed on the Faculty of Letters until it could be developed into a stand-alone Faculty of Social Sciences. With Presidential Decree No.39 of 1982, and Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture No.0538/0/1983, dated December 8, 1983, the Faculty of Letters was officially opened, consisting of the Department of History, Indonesian Literature, English Literature, and the Department of Sociology with the Sociology and Anthropology Study Program. In July 1982, it had begun accepting the first batch of students, for the academic year 1982/1983. This first batch of lectures began in August 1982. Then, for the first time, the Department of Sociology has successfully graduated and graduated a new bachelor’s degree in November 1986.

To achieve coaching efforts, program development in the fields of humanities and social sciences, the Faculty of Letters has established cooperative relationships with various institutions at home and abroad. With IKIP Padang, cooperation is carried out in the form of assistance from the Preparatory Committee and Astn. Expert. In collaboration with the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, the Department of Sociology received guest lecturers for five and a half years, namely Drs. Flud Van Giffen and Dra. Yohanna Van Reenen. For the short term, Dr. Reimar Schefold, and Drs. Geraard Persoon also came to the Faculty of Letters. Assistance in the form of tools, books and computers was also received by the Department of Sociology and cooperation in research was also carried out. Starting in 1989, a collaboration was held with SOAS (University of London and the British Council), phase I for 3 years and has been extended for phase II for 5 years. Visits and short courses at Andalas University from the institution’s Lecturers such as by Dr. E.U.Kratz, Dr. Russel Jones, Dr. Jonathan Rigg, Prof. Dr. Mark Hobart, Dr. Johan Pottier came to the Department of Sociology of Andalas University. In reply, Prof.Dr. Abdul Aziz Saleh, MA. Prof.Dr. Khaidir Anwar, and Dr. Imran Manan paid a visit to SOAS. Internship (internship) of 3 staff of the Department of Sociology to SOAS for a period of 3 months, one of which for 6 months has been carried out. There is also the help of Library books from the British Council as well as cooperation in research. With Bielefeld University West Germany, in the framework of collaborative research and staff development, the Department of Sociology and FISIP has received guest lecturers, Prof. Dr. Hans Dieter Evers, Dr. Solvay Gerke, and visits with brief special activities by Prof. Georg Stauth, Dr. F. Betke, and Dr. W.G. Clauss. They guide the research of teaching staff, courses or public lectures according to the period of time they are in FISIP. In return, Prof. Dr. Abdul Aziz Saleh, MA, visited Bielefeld, and two FISIP staff also left for Germany in April 1994 to take part in the S3 program (Drs. Damsar, MA and Drs. Nursyirwan Effendi, MS).

The cooperation with Germany was also continued with the assignment of Dr. Inge Bunschu from Berlin University at FISIP as a teaching staff seconded for two years. Help with books and equipment was also obtained from Germany through Dr. Bunschu. Dr. Horseman also made a short visit and gave a public lecture at FISIP in March 2001. In collaboration with Aminef-Fulbright United States, there have been visiting guest lecturers Prof. Dr. Gerald L. Houseman, Dr. William Eiserman and Dr. Josephine Milburn who teach for a semester, in addition to the help of tools and books. Prof. Murphy from England was also active as an English Assistant for lecturers from 1999 to June 2001.

Apart from the institutionalized cooperation as stated above, the Faculty also has non-institutional or incidental relationships with several other agencies such as: the Social Sciences Foundation (YIIS) in Jakarta, the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) West Sumatra, the Minister of State for Population and Environment (KLH), the University of Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the University of South Carolina, The Ohio State University, Kyoto University, Japan, the University of Kent Canterbury, the United Kingdom, and universities in Australia in the form of expert visits and/or the dispatch of FISIP staff for study assignments. In line with this collaboration, an International Seminar on Impacts of Developments was also held in Bukittinggi on June 6-9, 1988. With the International Institute of Islamic Thougt Malaysia (IIITM) there have been two joint seminars and short courses on the Islamization of the social sciences, namely in July 1997 and June 1998.

In the framework of the cooperative relationship between the West Sumatra Regional Government and Negeri Sembilan Malaysia, several teaching staff of the Department of Sociology have also visited and conducted a brief research in Negeri Sembilan. The Department of Anthropology and Sociology, both of which joined the Faculty of Letters and continued to carry out institutionalized cooperation or incidental relations of domestic and foreign institutions or agencies. Such as the arrival of guest lecturer Prof.Dr. Karl G. Heider of the University of South Carolina who taught in the Department of Anthropology in the odd semesters of 2000 and 2001. Gregori M. Simon, M.A from the University of California and Seini Murao MA from the Tokyo Museum of Ethnology who both taught in the odd semester of 2002 in the Department of Anthropology.