Hefner’s Week as Visiting Professor & International Research Fellow at UIN Jakarta
Over the 2025 Thanksgiving break, Robert Hefner, Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at the Pardee School, was invited by Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs to be a Visiting Professor and International Research Fellow at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, Indonesia (UIN Jakarta). With some 23,000 students, Hidayatullah university is Indonesia’s top-rated state Islamic university, and is widely recognized as one of the finest Islamic universities in the world.
During his one-week stay, Bob conducted five three-hour seminars in Indonesian on topics ranging from “New Currents in the Study of Islam and Democracy” to “Indonesia’s Political ‘Reformation’ 25 Years On.” He also participated in an International Mini-Symposium named, “New Trends on the Study of Indonesian Islam, Problems, and Prospect” which addressed students in the Master’s Study Program in Islamic History and Civilization as well as Faculty of Adab and Humanities. During this seminar, Hefner explained the latest developments in research on Indonesian Islam, including future challenges and opportunities. He shared insights informed by his research on the politics and ethics of pluralist coexistence in the Muslim-majority world, especially Indonesia and Malaysia, and social recognition and citizenship among Catholic, Muslim and secular-liberal communities in France and the United States.
This international symposium served as a space for the UIN Jakarta academic community to explore new perspectives in understanding the development of Indonesian Islamic studies. Through in-depth dialogue with Hefner, this activity enriched academic discourse while expanding research networks and collaborations in the fields of history, anthropology and contemporary Islamic studies.
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.