Written by Athanasia Safitri

Challenges we face dealing with nature such as climate change and natural catastrophes have compelled us to reflect on ourselves and our position on Earth and toward nature. Karen Amstrong, a British author best known for her writings on comparative religion, has now invited us to take a moment to recognize nature’s central position in our spiritual life and to rediscover the sacredness of nature in these modern times. Her translated book Sacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World was launched and discussed on March 15, 2023 by Mizan in collaboration with Universitas Gadjah Mada and Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana. read more

Written by Johanes Koraag

For International Women’s Day, UIN Sunan Kalijaga, ICRS and CRCS UGM invited a female comedian to perform and speak as part of the academic discussion. The guest speaker that day was Sakdiyah Ma’ruf, a woman of Arab descent from the batik city of Pekalongan. Diyah, as she is familiarly called, is the first female solo comedian to wear a hijab in Indonesia. At the beginning of the event themed “Our Voice Comedy for Change”, Diyah conveyed the situation of the comedy world in Indonesia which is still full of patriarchal values. When she became a participant in a stand-up comedy competition, out of hundreds of participants who registered, there were only seven women including herself. Diyah consistently raises issues of women, Islam, and extremism in Indonesia. Born into a family of Hadrami-Arab descent, she was raised in a society that cared deeply about her identity as an Arab descendant who felt she had a view of the “truest and purest teachings of Islam” compared to other ethnicities. read more

Written by  Maurisa Zinira

Research on religion calls for various ranges of novel subject material and methodology. According to the dynamics of religious cases across faith communities, attention to this variety is crucial. Religious issues frequently involve players from different social backgrounds with a variety of competing interests, making them sensitive and complex. Therefore, in hopes of fostering a thorough comprehension of the subject at hand, it is important to take into account the best approach to understand these problems. read more