Two ASU professors hope to change the perception of one Southeast Asian country by integrating it into their classrooms.
Mark Woodward, a religious studies professor, and Peter Suwarno, an international letters and cultures professor, were guest speakers at the Seventh Annual Conference on Islamic Studies in Jakarta, Indonesia, last Wednesday, Nov. 21.
The two were among a handful of scholars from the Western world at the conference to discuss the future developments of Islamic studies around the world and the key role Indonesia plays internationally.
Both said they would channel the perspective they gained at the conference into their classrooms at ASU. This approach will provide new ways to improve students' understanding of the country's growing importance, they said.
"Students don't even realize how much the country of Indonesia affects them," Woodward said. "From the clothes they wear, to the clove cigarettes they smoke and the Java coffee they drink — the influence is everywhere."
But for such a highly religious country with more than 200 million of its people identifying as Muslim, Woodward said Indonesia has played a unique international role.
Since around 1998, the country has been an example of how Islam and democracy can co-exist fairly peacefully, Woodward said.
"Almost everyone in the country is religious in one way or another," he said. "The people just have this ideal of tolerance. It's sad that Americans sometimes can't see past the fact that it is not like countries of the Middle East such as Iraq, where political and religious change is just in its early stages. It is much more progressive."
Although there are still quite a few differences between Indonesia and the United States, Suwarno said he hopes to reach his students by elaborating on the similarities of the two countries, such as democracy and the dream for peace.
"Democracy has always been the dream of the Indonesian people, just as it has been with Americans," he said. "It is difficult to imagine, especially now that the Indonesian people would turn away from democracy. Students should be aware that the U.S. should only help to strengthen the countries' democratization process so it may be used as a possible model for democracy in other Islamic worlds."
ASU currently offers one of the top Islamic Studies Undergraduate Certificate programs in the country, with opportunities to study Middle Eastern languages such as Arabic, Indonesian and Persian, Woodward said.
By fall 2008, department officials hope to offer an undergraduate certificate for the study of religion and conflict around the world, he said.
Reach the reporter at kendall.wright@asu.edu.
