The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in Asia 2024 was officially held from July 9th-11th, 2024, with around 1,300 participants from 45 countries. Gadjah Mada University (UGM) was designated as the host for this international conference. A day before the AAS in Asia 2024 event, on the evening of July 8th, 2024, the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS) and the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) organized a talk show discussing religious studies in Indonesia. This talk show served as the opening event for AAS in Asia 2024, titled “The Future of the Study of Religion in Indonesia: Opportunities and Challenges.”
The event was conducted in the 5th-floor auditorium of UGM’s Graduate School building. It featured four prominent speakers: Robert Hefner (Boston University), Greg Fealy (Australian National University), Lena Larsen (University of Oslo), and Nelly van Doorn-Harder (Wake Forest University). Also present to deliver remarks was Dr. Widyanto Dwi Nugroho, S.Hut., M.Agr., the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Cooperation at Graduate School UGM. “This talk show is the opening activity for AAS in Asia 2024, spreading a positive spirit of sharing experiences. Enjoy this engaging talk show on the study of religion in Indonesia,” said Dr. Widyanto.
Dr. Samsul Maarif, M.A. the Chief of the CRCS Master’s Program, promoted the Inter-Religious Studies (IRS) program at UGM to the 200 participants of AAS in Asia 2024. Dr. Samsul emphasized the strength of the IRS which lies in the study of religions, particularly Islam, which is not offered at other universities in Indonesia. “For the master’s level (S2), it is conducted by CRCS, while the doctoral level (S3) is run by ICRS, a consortium of three universities in Yogyakarta: UGM, UIN Sunan Kalijaga, and Duta Wacana Christian University,” added Dr. Samsul.
Prof. Dr. Fatimah Husein, Director of the ICRS Association, served as the moderator for the talk show. Prof. Fatimah first invited Robert Hefner, who has spent four decades conducting in-depth research on religion in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Hefner expressed his admiration for Indonesia’s ability to blend the collaboration between state and religion as an inseparable part of society. Religion plays a crucial role in strengthening democracy, despite the challenges faced in practice. The second speaker, Nelly van Doorn-Harder, focused on women’s empowerment in educating about the concept of religious freedom.
Lena Larsen shared insights on the common challenges faced by Indonesia and Europe, noting that intolerance and hate speech can lead to conflicts in religious practices. Greg Fealy, the final speaker, discussed the influence of political factors on religious group practices. He expressed that more detailed exploration of this phenomenon is necessary for deeper understanding.
Keywords: Conflict, Women’s Empowerment, SDG 5: Gender Equality, SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, SDGs.
Author: Asti Rahmaningrum.