PENDAFTARAN
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CSR-CMR

Fostering Creative Minority

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Center of Excellence

Center for the Study of Religion and Christian - Muslim Relations

 

Center for the Study of Religion and Christian-Muslim Relations (CSR-CMR) at Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU) is designed to be a leader and a world-leading center in the study of religion, both world religions and local beliefs, and Christian-Muslim relations, as well as in response to increasing challenges to religious plurality and the relationship between followers of Christianity and Islam in Indonesia and beyond.  CSR-CMR is not only significant as a site for the academic study of religion and Christian-Muslim relations, but also as a vehicle for finding productive ways to build harmonious relationships among diverse religious communities, including Christians and Muslims.
Reasons for the founding of CSR-CMR are as follows.

First, Indonesia, although the government officially recognizes only six (world) religions, is home to many diverse faiths and beliefs, making this country one of the world’s most pluralistic societies in terms of religious diversity. Throughout the country’s social history, relations among religions have been marked by cooperation and respect as well as tensions, conflict, and violence.

Second, SWCU, founded in 1956, is home not only to Christians but also to adherents of other faiths from various parts of Indonesia and other countries. Although the university’s founding was based on the Christian faith, it has a deep respect for non-Christian religions and beliefs. The university is also committed to engaging pluralities by understanding, establishing, and bridging relations with other faiths. CSR-CMR, hence, reflects SWCU’s Christian heritage and recognition of religious significance in the history of human societies and modern global affairs.

Third, SWCU has a significant Christian and Muslim population (students, faculty, researchers, and staff), as well as adherents of other faiths, and academic programs in the studies of religion and societal, global affairs in Indonesia and beyond, not only in the Faculty of Theology but also in other faculties. However, the university does not have a research center dedicated to the study of religion and Christian-Muslim relations.

Fourth, even though relations between Christianity and Islam in Indonesia go back around five centuries, the two faiths, whose followers comprise the world’s largest and second-largest populations, have shared a complex history for millennia. Throughout history, Christian-Muslim relations were marked by conflict and violence but also by integration and cooperation that eventually have shaped, re-shaped, and influenced the present attitudes, perceptions, and understandings of the two religious communities. To understand the historical dimensions of mutual perceptions in modern times, the roots of Christian-Muslim relations need to be accurately and respectfully researched and studied.

Fifth, the historical and global presence of religion and its impact on human knowledge, politics, cultures, and civilizations are a fact of local, national, and international life. Equally important, Christian-Muslim relations have been critically tested by a series of anti-pluralist and intolerant acts in Indonesia (and other parts of the world) nowadays.
Vision

  • CSR-CMR was built on a belief, promise, and commitment to the equality and dignity of all human societies, regardless of their religion, ethnicity, gender, language, nationality, and other identities.
  • CSR-CMR was founded on the principle that Christians, Muslims, and adherents of other faiths, in their co-humanity, are called to see, know, understand, engage, esteem, and learn from one another, despite or even because of their variations and differences in religious beliefs, teachings, texts, and practices.
  • CSR-CMR is committed to the premise that mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation among religions, particularly between Muslims and Christians, can and should grow and thrive through intensive study and research as well as academically guided dialogue and engagement.

Mission
CSR-CMR’s main mission is twofold: (1) to enhance and advance knowledge and understanding of religion, both world religions and local beliefs, and (2) to foster, deepen, expand, and build relationships, dialogues, engagements, and bridges of mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation between Christians, Muslims, and followers of other faiths, by supporting academic training and scholarship.
 

Purposes

  • To be a world-leading institution for research, education, and scholarship on the study of religion and Christian-Muslim relations.
  • To achieve better and mutual understanding as well as tolerance and trust-based productive relationships between and among adherents of religions.
  • To study three focal issues, as follows: (1) Religion (the study of plurality, complexity, and density of religions and religious believers) (2) Inter/intrareligious encounters (the study of historical and contemporary development of encounters and engagement among distinct religious communities and/or traditions) (3) Christian-Muslim relations (the study of Christian-Muslim historical and contemporary relations in Indonesia and other parts of the world).
Sumanto Al Qurtuby

Chairman

Sumanto Al Qurtuby is the Chairman of the Center for the Study of Religion and Christian-Muslim Relations, a senior faculty member in the Sociology of Religion Graduate Program in the Faculty of Theology at Satya Wacana Christian University, as well as the Founding Director of Nusantara Institute on Culture and Religion. Before joining the university in 2025, he had over 20 years of teaching and research experience overseas, holding multiple academic/research positions at various universities, including Kyoto University (Japan), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (Saudi Arabia), the National University of Singapore, and the University of Notre Dame (USA). His academic and research interests encompass the study of religion, conflict and violence, peacebuilding, interreligious relations, Christian-Muslim engagement, Muslim politics and cultures, religion and world affairs, public religion and secularism, as well as the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Sumanto obtained his PhD in anthropology, with a focus on religious and political anthropology, from Boston University. During his academic career, Sumanto was awarded several competitive fellowships and grants, including from the National Science Foundation (USA), Earhart Foundation (USA), the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), Joan B Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies (USA), Center for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilization (USA), National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute (Singapore), and Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies (Japan), among others.
Sumanto has written more than 50 academic articles published in various international scholarly journals, as well as authored and edited 45 books in Indonesian and English, including Terrorism and Counter-terrorism in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks: Migration, Education and Islam (Bloomsbury, 2020), and Religious Violence and Conciliation in Indonesia (Routledge, 2016). He is now working on a monograph (under contract with Springer), entitled Polemics on Antisemitism and Philosemitism in Indonesia.

Email: sumanto.qurtuby@uksw.edu

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XYpGggIAAAAJ&hl=en

Deputy Chairman

Petsy Jessy Ismoyo, the Deputy Chairman of the Center for the Study of Religion and Christian-Muslim Relations, holds a Ph.D. from the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies at Gadjah Mada University. She currently serves as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Social and Communication Sciences and is a researcher at the Center for the Study of Religion, Pluralism, and Democracy (Pusapdem) at Satya Wacana Christian University. She was granted a study in the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) for religious pluralism, spent her time working with the Dialogue Institute at Temple University in 2018, and was a visiting researcher in Security, Islam, and Democracy in Indonesia and Turkey (SIDIT) at Humboldt University of Berlin with support from the Institut fur Auslandbeziehungen (ifa), Germany. Her research interests focus on the intersections of gender, culture, and religion. Her latest publication is “[Re]constructing [An]other Space: Ritual as a Site of Resistance for the Bissu Community in South Sulawesi, Indonesia” in the book titled “Religion, Decolonization, and the Planetary Community: Voices from the Indonesian Archipelago,” soon to be published by Routledge Taylor & Francis in January 2026.
Email: petsy.ismoyo@uksw.edu

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7Exj-1sAAAAJ&hl=en

Petsy Jessy Ismoyo
Linda Susilowati is

Secretary-General

Linda Susilowati is a social scientist at Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU), where she serves as a lecturer in the Development Studies Postgraduate Program and also conducts research through the Centre for Sustainable Development Studies. She earned her PhD in human geography from the University of Sydney, where she also co-coordinates a joint field school on sustainable development—a collaboration between the two institutions. Her doctoral thesis focuses on rural transformation and women’s agency within evolving social, economic, and cultural contexts in Central Java. Her research examines the intersections of gender, culture, and livelihoods in rural Indonesia, exploring how cultural and religious frameworks shape community identities and development processes. With over eight years of experience collaborating with international organizations and Indonesian civil society groups, she brings expertise in participatory methodologies that bridge indigenous practices with contemporary development approaches.

Email: linda.susilowati@uksw.edu
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EV2k6w4AAAAJ&hl=en

Treasurer

Mariska Lauterboom received her PhD in Religion and Practice from the Graduate Theological Union (USA) and MA in Theological Studies from San Francisco Theological Seminary (USA). Currently, she is the head of the undergraduate program in the Faculty of Theology at Satya Wacana Christian University as well as a member of the Education Committee of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI). An ordained pastor of the Moluccan Protestant Church, Mariska’s research interests include the study of religious education, decoloniality and post-coloniality, and women’s studies. Her most recent publications include the following titles: “Self-Love and Self-Acceptance in the Student Body: A Feminist Pedagogical Study in Christian Education” (co-authored with Otniel Aurelius Nole) and “Normalization of Religious Hegemony as Destructive Narrative and Bio-Politics in Minahasa” (co-authored with Thiosani Frinsly Kaat). Email: mariska.lauterboom@uksw.edu Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W7Z60goAAAAJ&hl=en
Mariska Lauterboom

Member

Purwanti Kusumaningtyas teaches at the English Literature Study Program, Faculty of Language and Arts, Satya Wacana Christian University. She graduated from the American Studies Doctorate Program at Gadjah Mada University. Her research interests are multiculturalism, diaspora literature, and ecocriticism. She wrote articles, poetry, and short stories to bring up the issues. Her publications include articles “Representation of Black People in Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” (Rubikon, 2024), “Solah Bawa Free Movement as a Whole Person Art Practice” (K@ta, 2024), poetry in several poetry anthologies such as “Surreptitious Ballads,” “Iffy Revelation”, dan “It’s Dark But It’s Okay” (Pustaka Egaliter, 2023) and short stories in “They Are Here,” (DeePublish, 2023) a short story anthology.
Email: purwanti.kusumaningtyas@uksw.edu

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=1SSbj5cAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Member

Suwarto Adi is the head of the Sociology of Religion Doctorate Program in the Faculty of Theology at Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU), where he teaches social ethics and development; religion, economy, and social theory; and development and inter-religious issues. Suwarto is also a team member of the collaborative project between SWCU and Germany-based Evangelische Hochschule Darmstadt on issues related to religion, social services, and sustainable development. Suwarto received his doctorate in theology and anthropology from Duta Wacana Christian University, Yogyakarta. Before joining SWCU, Suwarto had a long experience in several non-governmental institutions (e.g., Trukajaya Christian Foundation), where he directed multiple rural development programs and inter-religious dialogue in Indonesia’s rural areas.
Email: suwarto@uksw.edu

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=O75faaEAAAAJ

Suwarto Adi
Intiyas Utami

Intiyas Utami is the Rector of Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU) and a Full Professor in the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Doctorate Program of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business. A first female rector at SWCU and an expert in the fields of economics, business, and accountancy, Professor Intiyas also serves as one of the Vice Chairmen of the Indonesian Rectors Forum, an independent non-profit organization, which functions as a forum for university leaders in Indonesia to discuss domestic, national, and international developments related to education and societal issues, as well as provide policy recommendations for the government to enhance social welfare.

Willi Toisuta is the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Center for the Study of Religion and Christian-Muslim Relations and the Founder of The Willi Toisuta Associates. A renowned educator and expert in societal development, Professor Toisuta holds a PhD in Educational Planning from Macquarie University in Sydney and honorary doctorates from Kwansei Gakuin University (Japan) and Sunshine Coast University (Australia). From 1983 to 1993, Professor Toisuta served as the Rector of Satya Wacana Christian University. Toisuta also served as a Commissioner on Education for the World Council of Churches, where he contributed to the development of concepts for education promoting justice, peace, and environmental integrity among member churches. Additionally, he also served as President of the Association of Christian Colleges and Universities and as an Asian Trustee for the United Board for Christian Higher Education, supporting the development of Christian and Catholic universities across Asia. Toisuta was also an expert staff member in the Ministry of Higher Education, contributing to the planning, development, and reform of Indonesia’s higher education system. His extensive international cooperation led him to serve as a consultant for organizations such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and UNESCO, collaborating on bilateral projects with Indonesia’s partner countries.

Willi Toisuta
Robert W. Hefner

Robert W. Hefner is Professor of Anthropology and Global Affairs at Boston University. He is also President of the American Institute for Indonesian Studies. Previously, Professor Hefner served as the President of the Association of Asian Studies and the Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs. An expert in religious studies, including Christian and Muslim studies, as well as Indonesian politics, cultures, and societies, Professor Hefner has written more than 150 academic articles and authored (or co-authored) more than 20 academic books, including Hindu Javanese: Tengger Tradition and Islam, The Political Economy of Mountain Java, Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia, Shari’a Politics: Islamic Law and Society in the Modern World, Making Modern Muslims: the Politics of Islamic Education in Southeast Asia, and Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Indonesia, among others.

John L. Esposito is a Distinguished University Professor, Professor of Religion and International Affairs, and Professor of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. Professor Esposito is Founding Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and The Bridge Initiative: Protecting Pluralism–Ending Islamophobia in the Walsh School of Foreign Service. Past President of the American Academy of Religion and the Middle East Studies Association of North America, Professor Esposito has been a member of the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders and the E. C. European Network of Experts on De-Radicalization, a senior scientist for The Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, and an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations. Professor Esposito has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State, European and Asian governments, corporations, universities, and the media worldwide. A recipient of several prestigious awards (including the American Academy of Religion’s Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion), Esposito is the author of more than 55 books on Islam, religion, Muslim societies, and global affairs.

John L. Esposito
Amin Abdullah

M. Amin Abdullah is a well-known Muslim philosopher and a leading scholar of Islam. A Professor of Philosophy, he is currently the Head of the Cultural Commission of the Indonesian Academy of Science, an independent institution to promote scientific advancement, produce the Indonesian Science Agenda, and advise the Indonesian government on issues related to the development of science and technology. Previously, Professor Amin was the Rector of the Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University in Yogyakarta. Professor Amin obtained a PhD from the Middle East Technical University, Turkiye, where he wrote a dissertation entitled The Idea of Universality of Ethical Norms in Ghazali and Kant. A prolific author, Professor Amin has written numerous academic works on Islam, Muslim society, philosophy, cultures, and education, among others.

Greg Barton, one of Australia’s leading scholars of Indonesian Islam and Muslim society, is the President of Deakin University-Lancaster University Indonesia. Professor Barton has more than thirty years of experience researching Islam and social movements in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. He is recognized among the world’s top 2% scientists in the 2025 list compiled by Elsevier and Stanford University.  From August 2015, Barton took up the position of Research Professor in Global Islamic Politics in the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University. Previously, he was Herb Feith Research Professor for the Study of Indonesia at Monash University. Professor Barton is also a Senior Fellow with the Hedayah Center in Abu Dhabi and author of numerous books, including Gus Dur: The Authorized Biography of Abdurrahman Wahid.

Greg Barton
Chandra Setiawan

Chandra Setiawan is a noted scholar and a renowned leader in Confucianism. He is the Chairman of the Indonesia-China Partnership Institution, founder of the Global Peace Foundation Indonesia, and founder of the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace. Professor Chandra was the former chairman of the Supreme Council of Confucian Religion in Indonesia and former Rector of President University. He also served as a Commissioner for the Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU) for eleven years and a Commissioner of the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights.

Andreas A. Yewangoe is the Head of the Advisory Board of the Indonesian Bible Institute (Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia) and a Member of the Steering Committee of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (Badan Pembinaan Ideologi Pancasila, Republik Indonesia). A senior lecturer at a theological college in Tangerang (STT Moriah Gading Serpong), Dr. Yewangoe received his doctorate from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, in 1987. Dr. Yewangoe was a former rector of Artha Wacana Christian University in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, and a former General Chairman of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (Persekutuan Gereja-gereja di Indonesia).

Andreas A. Yewangoe
Izak Y. M. Lattu

Izak Y. M. Lattu is the Chairman of the Academic Council of the Center for the Study of Religion and Christian-Muslim Relations, Professor of Sociology of Religion and Interreligious Studies, and Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Satya Wacana Christian University. He is also a Series Editor for Palgrave Studies in Lived Religion and Societal Challenges and was a Research Fellow at the Ash Center at Harvard University from 2013 to 2014. Izak earned his PhD from the Graduate Theological Union, affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley, under a Fulbright scholarship. Izak’s work primarily focuses on Christian-Muslim relations, interreligious engagement, and the sociology of religion in Indonesia. However, his research interests encompass the everyday practices of dialogue, music, ritual, and narratives emerging from marginalized communities as resources for peacebuilding and social cohesion. Izak’s research integrates sociological theory, ethnography, and contextual theology to explore how religious communities negotiate difference, conflict, and pro-existence. Izak has published several articles, chapters, and books, including Rethinking Interreligious Dialogue: Orality and Collective Memory in Christian-Muslim Engagements in Indonesia” (Brill, 2023).
Email: izak.lattu@uksw.edu

Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (USA). He obtained his doctorate from the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto (Canada). Dr. Hashemi was previously the Founding Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. His intellectual and research interests lie at the intersection of comparative politics and political theory, in particular debates on the global rise of authoritarianism, religion and democracy, secularism and its discontents, Middle East and Islamic politics, democratic and human rights struggles in non-Western societies, and Islam-West relations. His books include Islam, Secularism and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies (Oxford University Press, 2009), The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future (Melville House, 2011), The Syria Dilemma (MIT Press, 2013), Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2017), and a four-volume study on Islam and Human Rights: Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies (Routledge, 2023).

Nader Hashemi
Asfa Widiyanto

Asfa Widiyanto is a Professor of Islamic studies at the State Islamic University (UIN) Salatiga, Indonesia. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Bonn and his master’s from Leiden University. From 2011 until 2013, he undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Marburg and the University of Bamberg, which was supervised by Prof. Claudia Derichs and Prof. Patrick Franke and sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Currently, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Indonesian Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Humanity (IJoReSH) and the Director of the Graduate School of UIN Salatiga. Widiyanto’s latest monographs include Religious Authority and the Prospects for Religious Pluralism in Indonesia: The Role of Traditionalist Muslim Scholars; and Ritual and Leadership in the Subud Brotherhood and the Tariqa Qadiriyya wa Naqshbandiya. In addition, he has published a number of articles in peer-reviewed journals. His research interests include Islamic studies, the sociology of religion, and the philosophy of religion.
Email: asfa.widiyanto@uinsalatiga.ac.id

Nancy T. Ammerman is Professor Emerita of Sociology of Religion at Boston University, having served as Chair of the Department (2007-2013) and Associate Dean for the Social Sciences (2015-2018). She received her PhD from Yale University. Dr. Ammerman’s previous two edited books, Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives (Oxford University Press, 2006) and Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life (Oxford University Press, 2013), explored the ways religion and spirituality are part of the everyday world of work, home, health, and public life. Following on that research, she has articulated an invitation to “re-think religion” based on sociological theories of practice and a body of research on “lived religion” (American Journal of Sociology 126(1), July 2020). Pulling all this together is her book Studying Lived Religion: Contexts and Practices (NYU Press, 2021.

Nancy T. Ammerman
Stéphane Lacroix

Stéphane Lacroix is an associate professor of political science at Sciences Po, a senior researcher at Sciences Po’s Centre de Recherches Internationales (CERI), the co-director of Sciences Po’s Chair for the study of religion, and Visiting Professor at Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia. His work deals with religion and politics, with a focus on the Gulf and Egypt. He is the author of Awakening Islam: The Politics of Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia (Harvard University Press, 2011), Saudi Arabia in Transition: Insights on Social, Political, Economic and Religious Change (Cambridge University Press, 2015, with B. Haykel and T. Hegghammer), Egypt’s Revolutions: Politics, Religion, Social Movements (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, with B. Rougier), and Revisiting the Arab Uprisings: The Politics of a Revolutionary Moment (Oxford University Press, 2018, with J.-P. Filiu). His most recent book from Columbia University Press is Twilight of the Saints: The History and Politics of Salafism in Contemporary Egypt (translated by Jeremy Sorkin).

Fatimah Husein is Professor of Philosophy of Religion in the Graduate Program at the Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University (Yogyakarta, Indonesia) and former Associate Director of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), a consortium comprising three universities in Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, and Duta Wacana Christian University. She earned her PhD in Indonesian/Islamic Studies from the University of Melbourne and holds a Master’s degree in Islamic Philosophy from McGill University. Her current areas of teaching and research encompass inter-religious dialogue, the intersection of Islam and social media, and, more recently, the diasporic Arab Hadhrami female preachers in Indonesia. Her recent publications include “Ba ‘Alawi Women and the Development of Hadrami Studies in Indonesia,” “Negotiating Salafism: Women Prayer Groups and their Preachers in Indonesia’s Islamic Digital Mediascapes,” and “Online Piety and Its Discontent: Revisiting Islamic Anxieties on Indonesian Social Media.”
Fatimah Husein
Nelly van Doorn-Harder
Nelly van Doorn-Harder is Professor of Religious Studies, Co-director of the Middle East and South Asia Studies, and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor in the Humanities at Wake Forest University (USA). She was born and raised in the Netherlands, where she earned her PhD on the topic of women in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. Before moving to the USA, she served as the director of a refugee program in Cairo, Egypt, and taught Islamic Studies at universities in the Netherlands (Leiden) and Indonesia (Yogyakarta). Her publications include The Emergence of the Modern Coptic Papacy (with Magdi Guirguis) and Women Shaping Islam: Indonesian Muslim Women Reading the Qur’an.
Rev. Simone Sinn is a professor at the University of Muenster. Previously, she was a professor of Ecumenical Theology at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey. Ordained as a pastor in the Lutheran church in Württemberg, Germany, Dr. Sinn also serves as a study secretary for public theology and interreligious relations at the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva (Switzerland), a global communion of 145 churches in the Lutheran tradition, representing over 72 million Christians in 98 countries. She studied theology in Germany and ecumenical relations in Ireland. Her doctoral research at the University of Muenster (Germany) focused on Christian and Muslim perspectives on religious pluralism in Indonesia, which provides a theological reflection on constructive engagement with religious plurality from a Lutheran perspective. Her academic works include two edited volumes, Religious Plurality and the Public Space: Joint Christian-Muslim Theological Reflections (with Mouhanad Khorchide and Dina El Omari) and Religious Identity and Renewal in the Twenty-first Century (with Michael Reid Trice).
Rev. Simone Sinn
Budhy Munawar-Rachman
Budhy Munawar-Rachman is a senior lecturer in Islamic Studies and the Study of Religions at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy. He is the Director of the Paramadina Center for Religion and Philosophy (PCRP), Paramadina University. He has extensive experience in issues of religious freedom in Indonesia and, more recently, in ecotheology. He has written and edited many books, including The Complete Works of Nurcholish Madjid.
Muhammad Najib Azca is the Acting Head of the Research Organization of Social Sciences and Humanities at the National Research and Innovation Agency (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional), the Deputy Secretary General of Nahdlatul Ulama Central Board (PBNU, 2022-2027), and Associate Professor of Sociology at the Gadjah Mada University (UGM), where he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees (2023-2026). A leading scholar in the fields of conflict and peace studies, Islamic movement, and violent extremism, Dr. Najib was the founder and director of the Youth Studies Center and the head of the Center for Security and Peace Studies at UGM. Dr. Najib obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam, where he wrote a dissertation entitled “After Jihad: A Biographical Approach to Passionate Politics in Indonesia.” Dr. Najib wrote several scholarly articles published in leading journals, such as Journal of Contemporary Asia, Asian Journal of Social Science, Asia-Pacific Migration Journal, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and Journal of Youth Studies.
Muhammad Najib Azca
Irene Ludji

Irene Ludji graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, USA. She is an associate professor in the Faculty of Theology, where she serves as the vice dean, and a researcher at the Center for the Study of Gender, Women, and Children (PSGA) at Satya Wacana Christian University. Her research interests include the ethics of solidarity, the ethics of nonviolence, Indonesian social ethics, Christian ethics, and the philosophy of religion. Her latest publication as book editor is “The Ethics of Peace and Nonviolent (Learning from the Indonesian Context).”
Email: irene.ludji@uksw.edu

Google Scholar: https://bit.ly/Ir3n3Ludj1

Agastya Rama Listya is the dean of the Faculty of Language and Arts at Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU). A composer, choral conductor, and lecturer in the Department of Music at the Faculty of Languages and Arts, Agastya is the conductor of the Lux Aeterna Vocal Ensemble and the Choir of the Indonesian Christian Church Salatiga. Agastya earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Theory and Composition from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta (1992); a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from Luther Seminary and St. Olaf College, Minnesota (2001); and a Doctorate in Ethnomusicology from the University of Otago, New Zealand (2018). His research and publications emphasize music and religion, music and culture, music and education, music and law, and music and mental health, in addition to music composition and choral conducting. Agastya’s writings include chapters published in several books, such as Musik dalam Perspektif: Kumpulan Esai (2019), Agama dan Budaya Nusantara Pasca Kristenisasi (2020), Rapsodia Filsafat: Melatih Filsafat sebagai Ilmu Kritis di Perguruan Tinggi (2022), Musik dan Perlindungan Hukum (2024), Musik di Indonesia: Sejarah dan Perkembangan Kontemporer (2024), Pendidikan Imago Dei (2025), and Liber Musica Kembang Setaman (2025). Agastya is also a contributor to the International Choral Bulletin, published by The International Federation for Choral Music.
Email: agastya.listya@uksw.edu

Agastya Rama Listya
Arthik Davianti
Arthik Davianti is an accounting scholar and a faculty member in the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Satya Wacana Christian University, where she teaches financial and sustainability accounting, as well as research methods using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. She obtained her Ph.D. from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, as an Australia Awards Awardee. As the Head of the Center for Public Accountability and the University Sustainability Committee for Satya Wacana Christian University, she actively leads initiatives that design, implement, and oversee the University’s actions on accountability and sustainability across public and private sectors. Her research interests include social and environmental accounting, responsibility and accountability, sustainability and sustainable development. Her current projects focus on interreligious dialogue for stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting, and on corporate and sustainability governance with emphasis on the quality of environmental disclosure.

Email: arthik.davianti@uksw.edu

Google Scholar: https://bit.ly/3Le10kY
Neny Isharyanti is an associate professor in the Master’s in English Language Education. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, the United Kingdom. Her research interests encompass teacher professional development, digital technology in Education, sociolinguistics, and English for Specific Purposes. Some of her latest publications (written with other colleagues) include “Generative AI for Teaching Reading,” “English Teacher Professional Development in Indonesia: Current Landscape and Future Directions,” and “Lower-Proficiency EFL Students’ Use of Grammarly in Writing: Behavior, Cognition, and Affect.” She can be reached via neny.isharyanti@uksw.edu
Neny Isharyanti
Pdt Gunawan

Rev. Gunawan Yuli Agung Suprabowo is a lecturer at the Faculty of Theology, Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia. He holds a Doctorate in Theology from the Jakarta School of Philosophy and Theology. His academic interests include New Testament Hermeneutics and Theology, Religious Altruism, Social Theology, and Interreligious Hermeneutics. He has served as editor and reviewer for several theological journals and has extensive experience in pastoral ministry, theological education, and interfaith engagement. He is the editor of the book Religious Altruism: Understanding Altruistic Religious Life (2024). His other publications can be accessed at

Google Scholar: https://bit.ly/GnW1ya.

Email: gunawan.suprabowo@uksw.edu

Rev. Agus Supratikno is a lecturer in the Faculty of Theology, Satya Wacana Christian University. He obtained his doctorate from Diponegoro University. His academic and research interests include the study of the political science of religion and peace studies, with a particular focus on exploring the relationships between religion, identity politics, nationalism, and peacebuilding. He has published books and academic articles on these issues. In community service, Supratikno has played a central role in developing the Srumbung Gunung Peace Creative Tourism Village in Semarang Regency. This initiative fosters interfaith dialogue, social cohesion, and sustainable peace through community-based tourism. Through his teaching, research, and community engagement, he is committed to advancing inclusive, critical, and socially transformative education.
Email: agus.supratikno@uksw.edu

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HPE-FqAAAAAJ&hl=id.

Pdt. Agus Supratikno
Tony Tampake
Tony Tampake is the Head of the Master’s Program in the Sociology of Religion, Faculty of Theology, Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU). Dr. Tampake is also a member of the Association of Indonesian Sociologists and the Asia Pacific Sociological Association. Previously, he was the chair of the Peace Center at SWCU, aiming at resolving social conflicts in Eastern Indonesia, and a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Asian Cultures and Theologies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr. Tampake’s primary academic, theoretical, and research interests are in the fields of the sociology of religious movements and the sociology of local culture. A pastor from the Central Sulawesi Christian Church, he received academic training at SWCU, Hartford Seminary (now, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace), and Eastern Mennonite University. His dissertation in the Sociology of Religion Graduate Program at SWCU, entitled “Redefining Social Action and Reconstructing Identity after the Conflict in Poso,” examines Muslim-Christian violence and peacebuilding in Poso, Central Sulawesi.

Email: tony.tampake@uksw.edu

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WSoMuHUAAAAJ&hl=id

Current Research Projects

Center for the Study of Religion and Christian-Muslim Relations, in collaboration with the Research Center for Religion and Belief (Pusat Riset Agama dan Kepercayaan), the National Research and Innovation Agency (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional), is conducting several research projects, as follows.

  • Politik Inklusi Penghayat Kepercayaan dalam Ruang Sosial dan Kebijakan di Jawa Tengah (Inclusion Politics of Believers in Social Space and Policy in Central Jawa)
  • Problematika Identitas Kependudukan Penghayat Kepercayaan Terhadap Tuhan Yang Maha Esa di Jawa Tengah (The Problem of Population Identity for Central Jawa’s Believers)
  • Antara Penerimaan dan Jarak Sosial: Interaksi dan Relasi Penghayat Kepercayaan dengan Komunitas Agama-Agama (Between Acceptance and Social Distance: Interaction and Relations of Believers with Religious Communities)

 

Sumanto Al Qurtuby

Mennonite-Muslim Alliances for Peacebuilding in Contemporary Indonesia (Book chapter, Springer 2026)

Christian Mennonites and Muslims worldwide have long established connections and worked together for peacebuilding and interfaith relationship building. Focusing on Indonesian Mennonites and Muslims, this chapter examines a relatively unexplored social phenomenon: the cooperation between these two religious communities in their attempts at fostering civic peace and social harmony through humanitarian work and interfaith relations in present-day Indonesia. The chapter aims to understand the factors, rationales, motives, as well as philosophical and practical considerations of their collaborations to shed light on the link between religion and peacebuilding.

Sumanto Al Qurtuby

Sino-Indo Muslim Cultures:Tracing the History and Legacy of Cheng Ho and Chinese Muslims in Nusantara

Zheng He’s presence in the Indonesian archipelago offers an important lens for reconsidering the formation of Muslim communities in Nusantara. Historical evidence from Java demonstrates that Chinese Muslim networks were deeply embedded in maritime trade, diplomacy, and religious life prior to European expansion. Their influence contributed to the development of local Islamic practices and expanded the cultural horizons of early Muslim societies in the region. Reassessment of long-standing theories of Islamization reveals that Sino-Indo Muslim interactions provide a substantial foundation for acknowledging a “Chinese theory” alongside Arab, Indian, and Persian perspectives. The legacy of Zheng He and related communities highlights the plural genealogies that constitute Indonesian Islam.

Sumanto Al Qurtuby

Suicide in Manggarai, Eastern Indonesia: Comparative Perspectives from Islamic, Catholic, and Indigenous Law

Suicide is a complex phenomenon that affects individuals and society, demanding global attention and requiring diverse approaches to be fully understood. This article presents a comparative study of suicide, analyzing both its conceptual and practical aspects within the frameworks of Islamic law, Catholic law, and customary law. For the conceptual analysis, a literature review focusing primarily on Islamic and Catholic law was utilized, while for the practical aspects in religious and customary communities, an ethnographic method was utilized. The research reveals both similarities and differences in how Islamic, Catholic, and local customary laws view suicide. All three perspectives condemn suicide as an act that contradicts life and violates their respective legal and moral codes. Although local cultural practices and the religious traditions in Manggarai—including both Christianity and Islam—generally disapprove of suicide, community responses to it vary. Religious approaches tend to be legalistic, individualistic, and moralistic, whereas Manggarai customary law emphasizes a communal, solution-oriented, and harmonious approach. This study contributes to the understanding of interfaith and intercultural perspectives as essential in addressing social issues, including suicide.

Petsy Jessy Ismoyo

[Re]constructing [An]other Space: Ritual as a Site of Resistance for the Bissu Community in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

This chapter employs a decolonial approach to the Bissu, a queer Indigenous community who have a unique role of ritual leaders within Bugis society in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Bissu community generates knowledge about the interrelationships between humans and the divine, between humans and their fellow humans, and between humans and the natural world through ritual. The chapter argues that the Bissu community views ritual as a manifestation of Bugis ancestral knowledge. The importance of balancing body and soul is reflected in the cultivation of harmonious relationships—among individuals, between humans and God, and with nature. This equilibrium is achieved by integrating the concepts of sulapa eppa (Bugis cosmology), assimellereng (the spirit of life), and pangaderreng (the system of norms) into every role one undertakes, particularly that of a leader in Bugis Indigenous rituals. Therefore, the Bissu community reimagines ritual as a site of resistance, incorporating the “body” into every ritual as a form of subversive resistance on behalf of Indigenous queer communities in Indonesia. In lieu of acquiescing to the externally imposed erasure of knowledge, patriarchal norms, and religious conservatism, the Bissu engage in détournement by transforming from the margins.This chapter employs a decolonial approach to the Bissu, a queer Indigenous community who have a unique role of ritual leaders within Bugis society in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Bissu community generates knowledge about the interrelationships between humans and the divine, between humans and their fellow humans, and between humans and the natural world through ritual. The chapter argues that the Bissu community views ritual as a manifestation of Bugis ancestral knowledge. The importance of balancing body and soul is reflected in the cultivation of harmonious relationships—among individuals, between humans and God, and with nature. This equilibrium is achieved by integrating the concepts of sulapa eppa (Bugis cosmology), assimellereng (the spirit of life), and pangaderreng (the system of norms) into every role one undertakes, particularly that of a leader in Bugis Indigenous rituals. Therefore, the Bissu community reimagines ritual as a site of resistance, incorporating the “body” into every ritual as a form of subversive resistance on behalf of Indigenous queer communities in Indonesia. In lieu of acquiescing to the externally imposed erasure of knowledge, patriarchal norms, and religious conservatism, the Bissu engage in détournement by transforming from the margins.

Sumanto Al Qurtuby

The Dilemma of Southeast Asian Diasporas in the Arab Gulf Countries: Between Opportunities and Risks (A Book Chapter with Simeon Magliveras, Indo-Pacific Diaspora in Peace and Conflict, edited by Mark Cogan, Routledge, 2026)

Cogan and contributors explore critical political, cultural, and structural challenges facing Indo-Pacific diaspora communities through seven unique contexts, illuminating how these populations confront transnational repression and organizational fragmentation while rebuilding lives abroad. Populations from many countries in the Indo-Pacific region have sought to resettle overseas, fleeing political unrest, ethnic conflict, political persecution and violence, discrimination and marginalization based on religious beliefs, and poor economic conditions. In seeking better opportunities for themselves and their families, severe challenges and obstacles remain. Drawing upon first-hand interviews, this book provides rich insights into the struggles of diaspora groups from Hong Kong, Thailand, Myanmar, India, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Each chapter explores unique cultural, economic, and political barriers faced by these disparate communities, from maintaining identity to confronting surveillance by home governments, while examining how diaspora organizations pursue political change, justice for human rights abuses, and international advocacy.  It is a valuable resource for scholars and students of International Relations, as well as human rights professionals working with diaspora populations or on issues related to authoritarianism and democratization.

Izak Y. M. Lattu

Rethinking Interreligious Dialogue: Orality, Collective Memory, and Christian-Muslim Engagements in Indonesia (Brill, 2023).

This book’s central argument is that oral forms of collective memory in Christian-Muslim engagements in orally-oriented societies are more effective than interreligious dialogue through the dominant written text based on elite-based concepts. The approach has dominated interreligious interactions. From the perspective of the social scientific study of interreligious encounters & collective memory in folklore studies, this book explores how orality and social remembrance articulated through folksong, oral narrative, and ritual performance strengthen interreligious engagements in the post-conflict society. The approach proposed in this book reclaims interreligious engagements based on the local Indonesian dynamic preserved in ritual performance, oral narrative, and folksong. This method articulates a contextualized interreligious engagement grounded in local culture. Rethinking Interreligious Dialogue

Sumanto Al Qurtuby

Terrorism and Counter-terrorism in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022)

This book is a comparative study of terrorism and counterterrorism in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. It explores the history and contemporary developments of terrorism, especially Islamist terrorism, in these two Sunni Muslim-majority countries. In doing so, it analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of governments’ policies, strategies, and models of counterterrorism, including terrorist rehabilitation and reintegration programs. In addition, the book also documents the opinions of Saudis and Indonesians to find societal voices on effective ways of combating violent extremism and discusses Saudi-Indonesian cooperation on counterterrorism, defense, and security issues. The book suggests that although particular Islamic texts, teachings, and discourses might influence radical behaviors and practices of some Muslim individuals and groupings, terrorism is beyond ideological, religious, and doctrinal issues. Therefore, multiple methods and strategies are needed to combat radicalism and create sustainable peace in society. The work will be is beneficial for both academic and non-academic communities, particularly students of conflict, violence, peacebuilding, and religious studies.

Sumanto Al Qurtuby

Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks: Migration, Education, and Islam (Bloomsbury, 2020)

What is the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia? For centuries, Indonesians have travelled to Saudi Arabia and have been deeply involved in education, scholarship, and the creation of centers for Islamic learning in the country. Yet the impact of this type of migration has not yet been the focus of scholarly research, and little is known about the important intellectual connections that now exist. This book examines Indonesian educational migrants and intellectual travelers in Saudi Arabia, including students, researchers, teachers, and scholars, to provide a unique portrait of the religious and intellectual linkages between the two countries. Based on in-depth interviews and questionnaires, the author identifies the “Indonesian legacy” in Saudi Arabia and examines in turn how the host country’s influential Islamic scholars have impacted Indonesian Muslims. The research sheds light on the dynamic history of Saudi Arabian-Indonesian relations and the intellectual impact of Indonesian migrants in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks

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