Between the Mountain and the Sea: Positioning Indonesia

BACKGROUND |   PROGRAM |  ORGANIZERS

Background - Call for Papers

The past dozen years since the fall of Suharto saw dramatic transformations in various aspects of life in Indonesia. From being a country in distress, in danger of dissolution, plagued by economic crisis and violence and battered by man-made and natural disasters, Indonesia now cuts a figure, or so we are told, of a rising Garuda poised to claim a prominent place in the world. Inside Indonesia the struggle against corruption, lawlessness and intolerance is ongoing and more and more Indonesian citizens are becoming aware of their positions in their own community within Indonesia and beyond. It is precisely the enormous diversity of the physical, socio-economic, cultural and political contexts of Indonesian people's lived experience that sets a fluid and fertile, if contested, grounds for (re)imagining and (re)positioning Indonesia in the scheme of things--global, regional, local, transnational or translocal.

As an interdisciplinary conference bringing together once again scholars from Indonesia and many other nations, the Fifth International Indonesia Forum seeks to provide a platform for scholars who keenly follow developments in Indonesia to discuss the various ways and contexts by which the state, scholars, individuals, civil society organizations, and other interest groups have recreated, redefined or re-imagined Indonesia's past, present and future in response to, or along with, its changes: political, environmental, climatic, religious, conceptual, geo-strategic, social, pop cultural, and intellectual. Papers that deal with the various aspects of positioning Indonesia in the global or regional stage, in the increasingly fragile natural environment, as well as positioning Indonesian citizens and communities within this multicultural nation are welcome.

The Fifth International Indonesia Forum Conference sponsored by Yale University and Gadjah Mada University will be held at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta on 9-10 July 2012.

PROGRAM

OPENING CEREMONY

Welcome: Frank Dhont, Yale Indonesia Forum
Opening Speech: Pratikno, President, Gadjah Mada University
Keynote Speech: Wiendu Nuryanti, Vice Minister of Culture, Moinistry of Education and Culture
Presentation of "Education in Indonesia: Perspectives, Politics and Practices" (publication #4 of the International Conference Book Series) to Gadjah Mada University by Frank Dhont, YIF Coordinator, Yale University
Presentation of Souvenir by Pratikno, President, Gadjah Mada University

Conference Program click here to download full schedule of panels and presentations >>

CLOSING CEREMONY

Closing Remarks : Thomas J. Conners, Affiliate Coordinator YIF Alumni, University of Maryland
Conclusion : Heddy Shri Ahimsa Putra, Universitas Gadjah Mada
Closing Speech : Frank Dhont, International Indonesia Forum, Yale University

Conference Organizers:
Andrew M. Carruthers, Yale University
Frank Dhont, Yale University
Heddy Shri Ahimsha Putra, Gadjah Mada University
Maya Septriana Hernowo, Gadjah Mada University
Rommel A. Curaming, University of Brunei Darussalam
Sri Margana, Gadjah Mada University
Thomas J. Conners, University of Maryland

Cooperating Institutions:
Social and Political Sciences Faculty, Atma Jaya Yogyakarta University
Indonesian History Studies Centre, Sanata Dharma University
Social and Political Sciences Faculty, Diponegoro University
Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Economics, Yogyakarta State University