Hefner Keynotes IIIU First International Conference on Islamic Education
On May 30, 2022, Robert Hefner, Professor of Anthropology and of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, gave the keynote address to open the First International Conference on Islamic Education, sponsored by the Faculty of Education at the Indonesian International Islamic University (IIIU).
The two-day IIIU conference was centered around the theme “Education in Muslim Societies: Addressing Critical Education Issues During the Challenging Time.” Hefner’s keynote, titled “Islamic Education in Modern Indonesia: How Indonesia Became A World Leader in Islamic Education, a Historical Sociology,” explores what can be gleaned from Indonesia on Muslim educational and ethical traditions for living together as citizens. Among the world’s Muslim majority countries, Indonesia has been the most successful in transitioning to a functioning and fair electoral democracy as well as upholding a tradition of multiethnic and multireligious citizenship. According to Hefner, this is something the whole world can learn from, not just other Muslim majority countries.
A recording of Hefner’s remarks can be viewed below.
Robert Hefner has directed 19 research projects and organized 18 international conferences, and authored or edited nineteen books. He is the former president of the Association for Asian Studies. At CURA, he directed the program on Islam and civil society since 1991; coordinated interdisciplinary research and public policy programs on religion, pluralism, and world affairs; and is currently involved in two research projects: “The New Western Plurality and Civic Coexistence: Muslims, Catholics, and Secularists in North America and Western Europe”; and “Sharia Transitions: Islamic Law and Ethical Plurality in the Contemporary World.” Read more about Professor Hefner on his faculty profile.