DILI, August 5, 2026 βISFIT, hosted an international seminar at the SPEPAL Hall in Fatumeta, Dili, focused on fostering academic resilience and mental well-being across higher education institutions.
Held under the theme “Building Academic Resilience: Strategies for Safeguarding Mental Health on Campus,“ the event aimed to promote mental health awareness and provide actionable coping strategies for students and academic staff. The seminar was organized through an academic cooperation agreement between ISFIT and Unika Atma Jaya, Jakarta, Indonesia.
The conference featured two distinguished academics from Unika Atma Jaya:
- Fr. Dr. Yoseph Pedhu, CP, MA (Dean of the Faculty of Education and Languages) highlighted the universality of mental health challenges and defined resilience as the capacity to bounce back from adversity with sustained hope. He emphasized that personal and academic failures should not be viewed as endpoints, but rather as crucial stepping stones for growth and progress.
- Ferdinan Okky Kurniawan, Ph.D. (Head of the Masterβs Program in Applied English Linguistics) addressed the evolving global role of the English language. He discussed its status as an international medium of communication and shared research predictions on how English will undergo continuous cultural and structural transformations in the future.
Fr. JoΓ£o Guterres, Dean of the Faculty of Theology, represented the Rector of ISFIT at the event. He expressed sincere gratitude to Unika Atma Jaya, the visiting speakers, and the organizing committee for making the collaboration possible and bringing valuable perspectives to the student body.
The seminar brought together members of the academic senate, university staff, students, and visiting representatives from Unika Atma Jaya. (Media ISFIT)