Professor Azyumardi Azra

Azyumardi Azra is Professor of History at Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN or State Islamic University), Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta, Indonesia. Born in West Sumatra (March 4, 1955), he graduated from the Faculty of Tarbiyah (Islamic Education), IAIN (State Institute for Islamic Studies) Jakarta (1982). In 1986 he won a Fullbright Scholarship to pursue his advanced studies at Columbia University, New York City and got his MA (1988) from the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. Winning Columbia President Fellowship, he moved to the Department of History, Columbia University, where he got another MA (1989), MPhil (1990) and PhD (1992) with his dissertation on "The Transmission of Islamic Reformism to Indonesia: Networks of Middle Eastern and Malay-Indonesian `Ulama in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries".

Professor Azra founded Studia Islamika (Indonesian Journal for Islamic Studies) in 1993; he still holds the position of editor-in-chief of the journal. He is also on the board of editors of Journal of Qur'anic Studies, SOAS, London. In 1994/1995 he was a visiting fellow of Southeast Asian Studies at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Oxford University, during which time he also lectured at St. Anthony College. He was also visiting professor at University of Philippines, Diliman (1997), and Universiti Malaya (1997). In addition, he was a member of Selection Committee of SEASREP (Southeast Asian Regional Exchange Program), organized by the Toyota Foundation and the Japan Center, Tokyo, Japan (1997-1999).

In 2001, he was a Distinguished International Visiting Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, New York University. He has lectured at NYU, Harvard University (Asia Center) and Columbia University. He is also supervisor and an external examiner for PhD dissertations at a number of Post-graduate Faculties in Indonesian Universities (IAIN/UIN Jakarta, IAIN Yogyakarta, Universitas Indonesia, etc), Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Leiden University, University of Melbourne, and Australian National University. Furthermore, he is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne (2004-2009); and is a member of the Board of Trustees of International Islamic University, Islamabad (2004-2009).

In May 2005, he received a Doctoral degree of Humane Letters Honoris Causa from Carrol College Montana, USA for his academic achievements, his contributions to worldwide understanding of the Islamic world and his efforts to promote peace between cultures. He received the Bintang Mahaputera Utama from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his dedication to Indonesia's education on August 15, 2005.

Professor Azra has presented papers in numerous national and international seminars and workshops. He has written a significant number of books, the most recent in 2002: Islam Nusantara: Jaringan Global dan Lokal (Islam in the Archipelago: Global and Local Networks); Paradigma Baru Pendidikan Nasional: Rekonstruksi dan Demokratisasi (New Paradigm of National Education: Reconstruction and Democratization); Reposisi Hubungan Agama dan Negara : Merajut Kerukunan Antar-Umat (Reposition of Relations between Religion and the State; Enhancing Religious Tolerance); Menggapai Solidaritas: Tensi antara Demokrasi, Fundamentalisme, dan Humanisme (Creating Solidarity: Tension between Democracy, Fundamentalism, and Humanism); Konflik Baru Antar-Peradaban: Globalisasi, Radikalisme, dan Pluralitas (New Inter-Civizational Conflicts: Globalization, Radicalism and Pluralism); Historiografi Islam Kontemporer: Wacana, Aktualitas dan Aktor Sejarah (Contemporary Islamic Historiography: Discourse, Actuality, and Historical Actors). He has also contributed chapter to numerous edited books.

In 1982-1985 he worked as a researcher at the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (LIPI); and moved to IAIN Jakarta (1985) as a lecturer. In 1995-1997, he was also vice Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (Censis), a research center of the IAIN/UIN Jakarta, before being appointed as Vice Rector for Academic Affairs in 1997. He was elected as Rector of IAIN/UIN Jakarta in October 1998; and was reelected in August 2002 for the second term.

Dr Greg Fealy

Greg Fealy holds a joint appointment as fellow and senior lecturer in Southeast Asian politics at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, and the Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra.

His main research interests are Islam and post-independence Indonesian politics. He is currently studying Islamism in Indonesia as well as the impact of globalisation upon religio-political behaviour. He gained his PhD from Monash University in 1998 with a study of the history of Indonesia's largest Islamic party, recently published in Indonesian under the title Ijtihad Politik Ulama: Sejarah NU, 1952-1967.

Dr Fealy is the co-author of Joining the Caravan? The Middle East, Islamism and Indonesia (2005), and Radical Islam and Terrorism in Indonesia (2005). He is also co-editor of Voices of Islam in Southeast Asia: A Contemporary Sourcebook (2006); Nahdlatul Ulama, Traditionalism and Modernity in Indonesia (1995) and Local Power and Politics in Indonesia: Decentralisation and Democratisation (2003). He was the C.V. Starr Visiting Professor in Indonesian Politics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Washington DC, in 2003. He has also worked as an Indonesia analyst at the Office of National Assessments and a consultant to AusAID, The Asia Foundation, USAID, the Lowy Institute, ASPI and Oxford Analytica.

Mr Philip Flood AO 

Philip Flood is a former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a former Ambassador to Indonesia, High Commissioner to Bangladesh and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He has also been Director-General of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and has conducted several public inquiries for government. He is currently Deputy Chairman of CARE Australia. 

Professor Virginia Hooker

Professor Virginia Hooker was Professor of Indonesian and Malay in the Faculty of Asian Studies, the Australian National University, Canberra until early 2007. Her research interests are Islam in Indonesia; instructional literature for Muslim women, and Islam and democratisation in Indonesia. She has secured several research grants for projects on the contemporary expression of Islam in Indonesia.

Professor Hooker's publications include Voices of Islam in Southeast Asia: A Contemporary Sourcebook (with Greg Fealy, 2006); Writing a New Society: Social Change Through the Novel in Malay (2000); Perceptions of the Haj: Five Malay Texts (with A.C. Milner, 1984); and Tuhfat al-Nafis Sejarah Melayu Islam (1991, reprinted as a Karya Agung in 1998).

Mr Philip Knight

Philip Knight is a Principal Fellow in the Asia Institute, the University of Melbourne. He was Chief Executive Officer of the Islamic Council of Victoria from 1999-2003 and Director of the Australia Indonesia Institute's Young Muslim Leaders' Exchange from 2002 until 2007. Previously he worked for 35 years in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Philip Knight's diplomatic service in Europe, the Middle East and Asia included postings in four Muslim majority countries, to three of them as Australian ambassador.

Professor Tim Lindsey

Professor Tim Lindsey is an ARC Federation Fellow and Director of the Asian Law Centre, which he joined in 1990. He is a graduate of the University of Melbourne Law School and completed his doctoral thesis in Indonesian studies. He teaches Indonesian Law, Malaysian Law and Islamic Law. He researches and teaches in bahasa Indonesia, is a member of the Board of the Australia-Indonesia Institute and is a practising member of the Victorian Bar. His publications include Indonesia: Law & Society (1999), Indonesia After Soeharto: Prospects for Reform (1999) and Law Reform in Developing and Transitional States (in press, 2005). He is currently working on ARC-funded projects relating to Islamic law in Indonesia (with M.B. Hooker) and in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Professor Abdullah Saeed

Professor Saeed is an active researcher, focusing on one of the most important issues in Islamic thought: the negotiation of text and context, ijtihad and interpretation. He is a strong advocate of reform of Islamic thought and is frequently asked to present at events both nationally and internationally. He also participates in training courses on Islamic issues to community leaders and government agencies in Australia and abroad. Of particular interest, given the current climate, is the promotion of inter-religious initiatives. He regularly engages with the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities at national and international symposia to enhance community understandings of Islam, Islamic thought and Muslim societies. He has authored and edited numerous works. His recent publications include Islamic Thought: an introduction (Routledge, 2006); Interpreting the Qur'an: Towards a Contemporary Approach (Routledge, 2006); Approaches to the Qur'an in Contemporary Indonesia (editor) (Oxford University Press, 2005); Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam (co-author) (Ashgate, 2004); and Islam in Australia (Allen & Unwin, 2003). In addition to his strong research focus, Professor Saeed continues to teach Islamic studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervise postgraduate students.

Professor Saeed is the Foundation Chair of the Sultan of Oman Endowed Chair in Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne . He is Director of the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne and Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (in conjunction with Griffith University and the University of Western Sydney).

Further information is available at: http://www.abdullahsaeed.org/