Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) with the support from The Henry Luce Foundation based in New York has launched a programme with the theme Religion, Public Policy, and Social Transformation in Southeast Asia”.
Beginning1 July 2013 until end of year 2016, the programme is a collaborative research between countries in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and the U.S.
“This research is very important and strategic, not only for Southeast Asia or Indonesia, but also the U.S..” said Dicky Sofjan, main researcher.
According to Dicky, religion in this region would always receive attention from world researchers, particularly on the role of religion in the public domain and how to become the drive for the social transformation process. One of the main goals of the research is to build an effective platform to discuss and share perceptions between experts and observers and analysts, policy makers and stakeholders in the participating countries.
“The orientation of the programme is based on some themes, such as diversity management, identity and gender and religion,” he said.
The programme is expected to produce studies aimed at public policy that touches upon religious main issues in those countries. It will be implemented through research, national and sub-regional workshops and international conference. ICRS will offer one Research Scholarship at the Ph.D. level.
ICRS is a study programme for S-3 in interfaith and culture and is a consortium of UGM, UIN Sunan Kalijaga, and UKDW.