Wednesday forum is a weekly public discussion on various topics of religion and culture organized by CRCS and Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS). The forum is held every Wednesday at 12.30 – 2.30 PM in room 306 (3rd floor) of UGM graduate school building. Since 2002 many scholars, students, and researchers worldwide have presented their papers or on-going research in this forum.

Anyone who wants to make a presentation in this forum should fill out the Wedforum-form and send it to wednesdayforum@yahoo.com and crcs@ugm.ac.id.

The relationship between religion and science has captured world wide attention from people in any way. Some believe that religion and science need to be put in different boxes because they work in different ways, but others believe that both of them need to be harmonized because they share the same goal. Bellow is the interview with Prof. Nidhal Guessoum, one of the speakers in the “The First International Conference on Knowledge and Values” conducted by CRCS, ICRS, and the 26th UGM anniversary committee. He is a professor of Physics at the American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) who had Ph. D. in Astrophysics from the University of California, San Diego, USA. He is also active in the area of popularization of science and the interface between science and religion.

The bombing tragedy in Kuta 2002 and Jimbaran 2005 perturbed Muslims living in Bali. Balinese people, then, began to be quite aware of the newcomers. Fears of social and religious tensions always appeared. As a result, there was a sheer gap among the Muslim-Hindu social interaction. It seems that living in a pluralistic religion and culture is re-tested.

The research in this book showed Muslims in Bali could interact and obtained good space. This book not only invited the readers to trace the life of Islam community (village) in Bali, but also probed the extent to which Muslims have a public space: patterns of communication, interaction, and institution, between Muslims and the local people of Bali.

Integrative Studies of Science, Religion and Culture on Disaster

The rise of natural disasters in Indonesia in recent years ranging from tsunamis, earthquakes, erosion, floods, mudflows, volcanic eruptions, droughts, forest fires, tornadoes and others increase the need for a thorough review of the disaster. Natural science approach that has been dominant in the view of disaster is considered not sufficient to help us understand and act appropriately in disaster prevention and mitigation. Thus, it takes a more holistic approach in assessing disaster than from the perspective of science that is religion and culture.

Mucha-Shim Quiling Arquiza

The emergence of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which was founded by Nur Misuari in 1969, has brought new spirit for the Moro to gain their independent. Moro refers to 13 ethnic groups in southern Philippines (Mindanao Island, Sulu Island, Palawan, Basilan, and so on). MNLF organises armed rebellion against the Philippines government, demanding economic equality and independence as sovereign state.

Stereotype as an insurgent has created different reactions towards the repressive regime. Hostility, frustration, and primordial chauvinism are recorded into collective memories and have become legacy through generations. Those memories and legacies manifest in not only physical resistance but also visual art, graphic art, and oral narrative.