Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang

The doctoral program of Inter-Religious Studies (S3 IRS), in collaboration with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), is embarking on a pivotal two-year (2024-2025) research project. This project, focusing on Digital Inclusion and its Dynamics among Indigenous Religious Communities in Indonesia, is led by Dr. Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras. The research team, including Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang, M.A., Ida Fitri Astuti, M.A., David Akbar Hasyemi Rafsanjani, S.S., and Yeni Yulianti, M.A. (BRIN), has been actively conducting field research since March 2024. These field visits to various indigenous religious communities in Lampung, Riau, Medan, Bangka Belitung, East Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku have provided invaluable insights into the dynamics of digital inclusion among them. read more

Angie Wuysang 

Hazara refugees in Indonesia experience discrimination and pressure in terms of expressing their distinctive religiosity. This was one of the main points presented by Dr. Realisa Masardi at the ICRS-CRCS Wednesday Forum at the UGM Graduate School on April 24, 2024.

Dr. Masardi, a lecturer at the Universitas Gadjah Mada Department of Anthropology, conducted multisite ethnographic research on Afghan refugees in four cities for 14 months, and specifically focused on the various ways refugee youths contemplate their religious identity and navigate Indonesia’s complex religious sphere. read more

Dicky Sofjan

Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) & Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM)

What would religion and religious life be like in the age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI)? What would the Internet of Things (IoTs), ChatGPT, Blockchains, A/V Reality, and all these futuristic technologies such as Machine Learning Systems (LMS) and Robotics Engineering have to do with the humankind’s “ultimate concern,” borrowing Scott Appleby’s (2000) notion?

These questions were constantly badgering me immediately when I received a startling invitation by the Digital Communications Network (DCN) early this year to become one of the keynote speakers in its Web3 Fusion: AI and Beyond forum in Bangkok, Thailand. The event, held on April 14-16, was described as “a hybrid forum on technologies impacting the information space.” The forum was intended as a platform to learn, share insights, and build networks among young or youthful tech engineers, developers, digital platform company representatives, academics, non-governmental organizations, and youth from around the world. Other invited keynote speakers included those from the United States, Brazil, Greece, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. read more

Hongsok Lee

The Wednesday forum, held on February 28, 2024, at the Graduate School Building of Universitas Gadjah Mada, was an interesting presentation entitled “The Joke is on Me (God).” The speaker, Prof. Robert Setio, is the Dean of the Faculty of Theology at Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana and a faculty member of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies.

The presentation began by listening to the song “I started a Joke” by the Bee Gees together and discussing the meaning of the lyrics. The presenter went on to quote Søren Kierkegaard on irony: “Irony limits, finitizes, and circumscribes and thereby yields truth, actuality, and content; it disciplines and punishes and thereby yields balance and consistency.” Through his examination of the role that humor about God can play in uncovering the irony of religion and the meaning of humanity, he argues that humor about God can be a good tool for understanding the complexity and diversity of religion and humanity. read more

Rezza Prasetyo Setiawan
Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Religions co-constitute parts of the Earth’s history and they continue to influence the current state of the world. Religions exist not only in thoughts or words, but also in actions, all of which reverberate far beyond human perception and understanding. Therefore, the significant role of religions in co-constituting reality should not be limited only as a means to explain the current state of marginalization and oppression but also as a force of change against injustice. This article will reframe the Marxist understanding of interreligious engagement that is based upon a conventional materialism within the neo-materialist paradigm to expand the understanding of interreligious engagement as entanglements of material-discursive struggle against capitalist homogenization. read more

Athanasia Safitri

Religion and Global Society in collaboration with the London School of Economic and Political Sciences (LSE) and the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), held a workshop event entitled “Agama Menghadapi Perubahan Lingkungan” (Religion Dealing with Climate Change). It was supported by the British Embassy in Jakarta and held in Solo on March 18, 2024. Twenty-two participants come either from religious communities or environment-based organizations in the Yogyakarta and Surakarta regions. read more

m rizal abdi

Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies

The end of March 2024 becomes an important week for religious communities in Indonesia. During the week, we experience several holy days in sequence: Nuzulul Qur’an Day for Muslims and three holy days (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday) for Christians. The unique event is not merely a coincidence due to the rare meeting of two calendar modes that will not happen for many years to come. For Muslims and Christians in Indonesia, this is a momentous opportunity to deepen interfaith understanding and re-learn from one another. read more