Semarang: Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Diponegoro | Institutional history is a category of historical themes that attracts students’ interest. However, this theme still needs serious attention from the methodology side. In the Undergraduate Study Program of History, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Diponegoro, concepts and theories have been touched upon in the Theory and Methodology of History course but have not explicitly touched upon the institutional history setting.
Starting from this methodological void, the Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Diponegoro organized the Series XII History Methodology Workshop, with the theme “Institutional History,” with speaker Prof. Dr. Wasino, M. Hum. lecturer from Semarang State University (UNNES) on September 8, 2023. The workshop was moderated by Dra. Tri Handayani, M. Si. from Universitas Diponegoro.
“So far, the writing of institutional history has been placed within the framework of social history, but how the history of institutions is written requires a concept that is not monolithic; perhaps through this workshop, there are other variants that have never been mentioned,” said the Head of the Study Program of History, Dr. Dhanang Respati Puguh, M. Hum., in the opening remarks of the workshop.
The history of an institution is a narrative that records critical points about how the institution is organized. The narrative can be a momentary profession about the Institution or the changing times that affect the behavior of the Institution. Institutional history is not only narrating history as an event but also an analysis that concerns the system, order, and organizational behavior in the process of functioning of the Institution, for example, the history of political institutions, education, economy, military, culture, and others.
Professor Wasino provided a series of questions related to aspects that can be narrated in the history of the Institution, “How does the impact of changes in organizational order on budgeting? How does organizational change affect public services? How does organizational change affect organizational culture? How do organizational changes affect the state facilities provided?”
In narrating the history of the Institution, various records of institutional history can be obtained from official reports from the Institution, records of employee administrators, contemporary accounts, factory buildings, government centers, and others.
Various state-owned institutions can be used as the theme of institutional history, including PT Pelabuhan Indonesia Holding Company, PT Pelni (Indonesian National Shipping), PT Perkebunan Nasional Indonesia Holding Company, PT Telkom, PT Kereta Api Indonesia, Waskita Karya, BNI 1946, Bank Mandiri, and others (Fanada Sholihah/Sejarah).