Radhita Zahratul Jannah Am

Johanes Marno Nigha, the IRS UGM doctoral student, is currently developing his dissertation proposal entitled “Art-Based Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue: A Case Study of the Siselo Susurang Festival by Komunitas Kahe and the Wuring Community”. This dissertation proposal examines the failure of formal-institutional interreligious dialogue approaches in Indonesia to reach the realities of grassroots communities. The research centers on the Siselo Susurang Festival, initiated by Komunitas Kahe in Wuring Village, Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, a region marked by spatial segregation between the Catholic-Krowe majority and the Muslim Bajo-Bugis minority. The festival was preceded by a lengthy process of living together with residents, communal deliberations, and workshops beginning in early 2020, producing a documentary film, a recipe book, and a wall magazine exhibition. read more

Radhita Zahratul Jannah Am

The Doctoral Program in Inter-Religious Studies (IRS) at the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada held the second Dissertation Promotion Club (DPC 2), exactly one month after DPC 1. This short interval reflects the productive pace at which Fuji Riang Prastowo has been refining his dissertation, Spiritual Resilience in Buddhist Teachings on Mental Health: A Study of Interreligious Javanese Meditators in Yogyakarta. While DPC 1 highlighted the study’s background and field findings, DPC 2 focused on the dissertation’s theoretical framework and scholarly contributions. Fuji presented the gap in the literature that underlies his study. Western clinical-psychological scholarship tends to reduce Buddhist meditation to a stress-management technique, while Indonesian religious scholarship pays little attention to lived, interreligious inner experience. read more

Radhita Zahratul Jannah Am

The Inter-Religious Studies (IRS) Doctoral Program at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) began the new month with a productive session, holding a workshop to discuss its new curriculum on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. The workshop was led by Dr. Agus Wahyudi, Head of the Study Program. In his opening remarks, Dr. Agus Wahyudi highlighted two key issues to be addressed: how to increase the visibility of the research-based doctoral track (by research), and how to design a curriculum structure that is genuinely applicable to students from diverse academic backgrounds. Curriculum renewal of this kind is not new to the study program. The forum agreed that such discussions have become a regular tradition within IRS UGM, conducted periodically to ensure the program remains responsive to ongoing developments. read more

Radhita Zahratul Jannah Am

Selfitriani Kulla, one of the doctoral students in the Interreligious Studies (IRS) Program at the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada, successfully defended her dissertation in a closed defense held on Friday, June 26, 2026. The defense was held before a panel of examiners consisting of Dr. Samsul Maarif, Dr. Suryaningsi Mila, Dr. Agus Wahyudi, and Dr. Jonathan Smith, with Prof. Ir. Siti Malkhamah, M.Sc., Ph.D. as the chair. This research was supervised by two promotors, namely Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir and Prof. Michael Stanford Northcott. In the defense, Selfitriani presented her dissertation entitled “The Water Story of Mori Indigenous Community: A Study of Water and Religion in North Morowali, Central Sulawesi.” read more

Radhita Zahratul Jannah Am

Rahmad Setyoko, a doctoral candidate in the Inter-Religious Studies (IRS) Program at Universitas Gadjah Mada, successfully passed a significant milestone in his academic journey by defending his dissertation proposal during a comprehensive examination held on June 12, 2026. In the examination, Rahmad presented a research proposal entitled “Buddhist Missionaries on Social Media: The Reconfiguration of Dharmaduta in Contemporary Indonesia.” During the session, Rahmad outlined the conceptual framework, research questions, and methodological approaches that will guide his investigation into the intersection of religion, media, and contemporary social change. read more

Siti Muyasaroh

The Doctoral Program in Inter-Religious Studies at the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) organized a field trip as part of the implementation of experiential learning in the History of Religions course. This activity was designed to enhance students’ understanding of the historical development of religions, the dynamics of interfaith interactions, and the cultural heritage that has shaped the diversity of Indonesian society to the present day.

The full article can be accessed through the following link. read more

Radhita Zahratul Jannah AM

On Thursday (5 June 2026), the Doctoral Program in Inter-Religious Studies (IRS) at the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) organized the Dissertation Promotion Club  (DPC 1). The session took place in the IRS Meeting Room on the third floor of the UGM Graduate School Building and featured the dissertation research of doctoral candidate Fuji Riang Prastowo. Before the examination committee, consisting of Prof. Dra. Kwartarini Wahyu Yuniarti, M.Med.Sc., Ph.D., Psychologist, and Dr. Yulianti, M.A., and moderated by Dr. Michael Robert Quinlan, Fuji presented his dissertation entitled Spiritual Resilience in Buddhist Teachings on Mental Health: A Study of Interreligious Javanese Meditators in Yogyakarta. read more

Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang

One of the doctoral students at the Inter-Religious Studies (IRS), Universitas Gadjah Mada, Anthon Jason, successfully defended his dissertation proposal during a comprehensive examination held on Friday, May 22, 2026. The examination was conducted before a panel of examiners consisting of Dr. Agus Wahyudi, Prof. Dr. Fatimah Husein, Dr. Dicky Sofjan, Dr. Sita Hidayah, and Dr. Yulianti. During the session, Anthon presented and defended his dissertation proposal entitled “Mediating Memories of 1998: Lived Religion, Polarization, and Chinese Indonesian Tzu Chi Volunteers in Makassar.” read more

Photo source: travel.tribunnews.com

Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang

The fundamental question of what it means to be human is being radically re-examined in the first half of the twenty-first century. Amidst the relentless acceleration of artificial intelligence, planetary ecological crises, and shifting societal structures, the Faculty of Pontifical Theology Wedabhakti at Universitas Sanata Dharma convened the 4th Theology International Conference on April 21–23, 2026. Under the main theme “The Quest of Being Human in Our Times,” this global forum, held virtually through online platforms, became a critical arena for academicians, researchers, and doctoral students to map the contemporary boundaries of human dignity, agency, and relationality. The conference also highlighted the active participation of the academic community of the IRS UGM. Among the speakers were Angie Olivia Wuysang, a student of the program, and Dr. Martinus Joko Lelono, an alumnus, whose contributions reflected the growing interdisciplinary engagement of the IRS UGM in global theological and humanitarian discourses. read more

Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang

One of the students of the IRS UGM, Fardan Mahmudatul Imamah, participated as a presenter at an international academic forum titled The Graduate Conference, which was held on May 12–13, 2026. The event was a collaborative initiative among four higher education institutions: UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, UIN Sayyid Ali Rahmatullah Tulungagung, Universitas Brawijaya Malang, and Leiden University.

This academic forum served as a meeting space for scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds to present their research before both national and international academic communities. During the conference, Fardan presented a paper entitled “If a Peasant, Even Though Muslim, Still Has a Soul That Comes from Adat”: Peasant Narratives on Religious Change, Myth, and Agriculture in Rural Java. The paper explored a highly relevant yet often overlooked issue: how peasant communities in rural Java articulate their own religious experiences within the context of continuously changing agricultural life. read more