Democracy in the Muslim World: A Focus on Indonesia

A Screening of Reporting Pieces and Discussion with Emmy Winning Reporter Kira Kay and a Panel of BU Experts

With the recent victory of grassroots reformer Joko Widodo (Jokowi) over a military general, Indonesia enters a bold new political era. We consider the recent developments in Indonesia through the lens of two recent reporting pieces that touch on life in Indonesia by Emmy winning reporter, Kira Kay. Kira is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a past winner of the Robert F Kennedy Award for International Journalism. The first screening explores the grassroots political campaign of reformer, Joko Widodo. The second explores tensions in the world’s largest Muslim democracy, where Sharia Law has taken root in the disaster stricken province of Aceh, testing the rights of religious minorities and women.

Brief comments by Kira will follow screening of the pieces, followed by commentary by a panel of BU experts (Professors Strom Thacker and Jeremy Menchik, Pardee School), and a Q&A with the audience. Light snacks and soft drinks will be served.

Co-sponsored by BUCSA, Institute for Muslim Societies and Civilization, and Department of Sociology; coordination by Professor Joseph Harris (Sociology).