Public Lecture of Robert W. Hefner: “Rethinking Democracy and Pluralism in Islam: New Light on an Old Debate”. As the third series of Public Lecture under Pluralism Knowledge Program activities, on 10 August 2010 CRCS invited Robert W. Hefner to give lecture on ““Rethinking Democracy and Pluralism in Islam: New Light on an Old Debate.” Bob Hefner is Professor of Anthropology and Associate Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs at Boston University.
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The second series of Public Lecture of Pluralism Knowledge Program activities was a lecture by Dr. Amina Wadud on “Gender and Pluralism” on August 3rd 2010. In this lecture, she problematized the term pluralism.
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• Abstract Of Dr. Amina Wadud’s Papers

On April 29th 2010, CRCS in collaboration with Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) Yogyakarta, International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP) and Switzerland Embassy invited Professor Hans Kung to give Lecture in CRCS on “Finding New Path to Dialogue”. This lecture is the first series of public lecture under Pluralism Knowledge Program activities in 2010. The Lecture was attended by more than 400 audience who enthusiatic to see the well know Kung. For this lecture CRCS produced a small book on Kung’s concept of dialogues and Muslim perspectives on his ideas of dialogue entitled “Jalan Dialog Hans Kung dan Perspektif Muslim ”, and a documentary of his lecture and visit to Yogyakarta entitled “Hans Kung, Indonesia, and Interfaith Dialogue”.
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Description:

International Summer School was held from the 12th of July to August 6 in 2010 and have be hosted by the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It involves a 4 week full time program of lectures, excursions, seminars, literature study, discussion, guided individual – and small group work and assignments. Selected participants are required to prepare a pre-summer school assignment. The course has be completed with a group presentation and paper as well as a design for a workshop that participants are expected to conduct after they return home. Upon successful completion, participants will be offered a Kosmopolis/University for Humanistics Certificate in Human Development and Human Rights. Every summer students and activists from Indonesia, India, Uganda and the Netherlands discuss issues around tolerance and pluralism in the Pluralism Summer School. The 2009 Summer School has been organised by knowledge programme partner CRCS – Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Kosmopolis, University for Humanist Studies, the Netherlands.

Tabitha Naisiko, a book writer and the Ugandan participant in the International Summer School, opined that a marriage should be constituted by love and not by a government constitution. This doctor candidate of Ethics and Development Studies in Martyr University, Uganda, finds herself cannot make head or tail to the Regulation on Inter-Religious Marriage in Indonesia, a country she identifies as a multiculturalists one. The Regulation which came into force in 1974, most probably, has led the love among Indonesians into division.
Uganda, according to Tabitha who had written dozen books on ethic and development, is called as the heart of Africa. With a strong Catholicism and Protestantism presence, which is about 85% of the total population, religious adherents live harmoniously one to another.” Inter-religious marriage has never become a problem in Uganda?” says a young woman who got her master degree on Applied Ethics in Leuven, Belgium, comparing the marital issues in Indonesia with those in her country, Uganda. “Nonetheless, the ethnic groups are sometimes clash”, she added.
Coming to Yogyakarta to attend the International Summer School through the Cross-cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) is one among wondeful things ever happened in her life. Tabitha asserts her aim of attending the program as “to be able to integrate the outlook I got here into my next reseach in getting a more mediated and dialetic approach to human development?” (Gie)

The Kosmospolis Institute of the University for Humanistic Studies in the Netherlands, in cooperation with Hivos and its partner for Pluralism Knowledge Program in India, Indonesia and Uganda will hold International Summer School on Human Development and Human Rights. The theme of this program is ‘Pluralism and Development’. After holding this program in Netherlands and India (Bangalore), in 2009 the summer school will be held in Yogyakarta, by the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS) UGM, on July 13, 2009 to August 7, 2009. Participants of this program consist of 4 people who come from Netherlands, India, and Uganda and 6 people come from Indonesia. For the applicants who passed selection, the committee will pay for transportation to Yogyakarta, accommodations, and hotel during four weeks. All of the programs will be delivered in English, including presentation and writing.
Deadline of registration is JANUARY 31, 2009.
To know more about the program, please click application form and call for application.