The Graduate School of Gadjah Mada University invites all new students of Multidiscipline Study Programs Academic year 2008/2009 to attend general lecture which will be held on:

Date : Monday, September 15, 2008
Time: 10:00-12:00 P.M.
Venue: Seminar Room, Fifth Floor, the Graduate School of Gadjah Mada University Building.
Agenda: General lecture by Prof. Merle C. Ricklefs, B.A., Ph.D., FAHA (Departement of History, National University of Singapore)

Below is list of the agenda:

1. Opening
2. Speeches

-Director of ICRS-Yogyakarta (Prof. Dr. Bernard Adeney-Risakotta)
-Direktur Sekolah Pascasarjana UGM (Prof. Dr. Irwan Abdullah)
-Vice Rektor Senior:(Prof. Dr. Retno S. Sudibyo., Apt)

3. Scholarly presentation under the title Islamisation and its opponents in Indonesia: How Past and Present Compare”, by Prof. Merle C. Ricklefs, B.A., Ph.D., FAHA. (Departement of History, National University of Singapore)
4. Prayer
5. Closing

Note:
Registration will be closed at 09:45
Male students are obligated to wear a tie.

For any further information, please contact:
Ingrid (Graduate School): +62 274 520318
Maufur (ICRS-Yogya): +62 274 562570
Lina (CRCS):+62 274 544976

Below is the abstract of Islamisation and its opponents in Indonesia: How Past and Present Compare”,

The Islamisation of the Javanese is a process that has been going on at least since the 14th century, with many twists and turns to the story. From the point of view of those who have promoted deeper Islamisation, there has been both progress and opposition. This history is the subject of a series of three books by Merle Ricklefs. The first two have been published: Mystic synthesis in Java: A history of Islamisation from the 14th to the early 19th centuries (2006) and Polarising Javanese society: Islamic and other visions, c. 1830-1930 (2007). Research on the period since the 1930s is ongoing, with the current focus on the period since c. 1998.

The variety of Islamic styles in Java is complex and the social, political and cultural dynamics more complicated than simple categories can suggest. Comparing the past – especially after the mid-nineteenth century, when social polarisation and conflict emerged over issues of religious identity – with the events of the last decade suggests a number of parallels and contrasts that may help us to understand current dynamics.

In his talk, Professor Ricklefs will explore these parallels and consider what light they may shed on contemporary affairs in Indonesia .

A Short Biography of Professor M. C. Ricklefs, BA, PhD, FAHA

Professor Merle Ricklefs is Professor in the Department of History, NUS. He gained his PhD from Cornell University and has held appointments at The School of Oriental and African Studies, Monash University , and All Souls College . He was Director of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University (1993-8) and subsequently Professor of Asian Studies and foundation Director of the Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies at the University of Melbourne (1998-2005).

Professor Ricklefs is a scholar of the history and current affairs of Indonesia . He is currently writing a series of 3 volumes on the history of the Islamisation of Javanese society from the 14th century to the present, the first two of which have been published: Mystic synthesis in Java (2006) and Polarising Javanese society (2007). He has authored and edited several major books and many book chapters and refereed articles, as well as contributing to newspapers and radio broadcasts. He is on the editorial advisory boards of History Today and Studia Islamika, is Southeast Asia editor for the 3rd edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam (16 vols.) and co-edits the Southeast Asia series of Handbuch der Orientalistik. He has held several major competitive research grants.

He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and was until recently member of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO. He was a founding member of the Australian Foreign Affairs Council. In 2003 he was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Government of Australia for service to Australian society and the humanities in the study of Indonesia .

His books include:

Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubumi, 1749–1792: A history of the division of Java. London Oriental Series, vol. 30. London : Oxford University Press, 1974.

(co-authored with P. Voorhoeve) Indonesian manuscripts in Great Britain : A catalogue of manuscripts in Indonesian languages in British public collections. London Oriental Bibliographies, vol. 5. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1977.