On October 6, 2006, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the rectors of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga (UIN), and Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana (UKDW) was signed. The ceremony took place at the Sultan’s palace in which Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, the Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, attended. In the memorandum, the three universities agreed to establish a consortium, namely the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), located in and accredited by the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada. The commitment was renewed on July 2, 2014 and signed by the three rectors in a ceremony held at Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana. To strengthen the legal standing of ICRS, the MoU was followed up by registering ICRS to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, which granted ICRS the status of Association (Perkumpulan and Perhimpunan) in 2015 and 2018.

Leadership

2006 - 2010

Director: Prof. Dr. Bernard Adeney-Risakotta

Associate Director: Dr. Fatimah Hussein

2010 - 2014

Director: Dr. Siti Syamsiyatun

Associate Director: Dr. Wening Udasmoro

2014 - 2019

Director: Dr. Siti Syamsiyatun

Associate Director: Dr. Jeanny Dhewayani

2019 - 2023

Director: Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir

Associate Director: Dr. Fatimah Husein

To know more about ICRS, look at the following articles:

Adeney-Risakotta, Bernard, ed. 2014. Dealing with Diversity: Religion, Globalization, Violence, Gender and Disaster in Indonesia. Geneva: Globethics.net. https://www.globethics.net/documents/4289936/13403252/Focus_17_web_rev.pdf#page=64

Bagir, Zainal Abidin, and Irwan Abdullah. 2011. “The Development and Role of Religious Studies: Some Indonesian Reflections.” In Islamic Studies and Islamic Education in Contemporary Southeast Asia, edited by Kamaruzzaman Bustamam-Ahmad and Patrick Jory, 57–73. Kuala Lumpur: Yayasan Ilmuwan. Link for download the full text: https://s.id/h37fn

Engelson, Amber. 2011. “Writing the Local-Global: An Ethnography of Friction and Negotiation in an English Using Indonesian Ph.D. Program.” PhD Dissertation, Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts-Amherst. https://www.academia.edu/1403526/Writing_the_local-global_An_ethnography_of_friction_and_negotiation_in_an_English-using_Indonesian_Ph._D._program.

———. 2014. “The ‘Hands of God’ at Work: Negotiating between Western and Religious Sponsorship in Indonesia.” College English 76 (4). National Council of Teachers of English: 292–314.

Epafras, Leonard Chrysostomos. 2017. “Introduction - Interfaith Dialogues in Indonesia and Beyond: Ten Years of ICRS Studies (2007 -2017).” In Interfaith Dialogues in Indonesia and Beyond: Ten Years of ICRS Studies (2007–2017), edited by Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras, 13–33. Focus 39. Geneva: Globethics.net. https://goo.gl/iaXdsN

Goddard, Hugh. 2009. “Recent Developments in Christian Muslim Relations.” In World Christianity in Local Context: Essays in Memory of David A. Kerr, edited by Stephen R. Goodwin, 96–114. Continuum Religious Studies. London and New York: Continuum.

King, Roberta R., and Sooi Ling Tan. 2014. (Un)Common Sounds: Songs of Peace and Reconciliation among Muslims and Christians. Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock Publishers.

Lukens-Bull, Ronald. 2013. Islamic Higher Education in Indonesia: Continuity and Conflict. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Noor, Nina Mariani, and Ferry Muhammadsyah Siregar. 2013. “Religious and Multicultural Education: Introducing Interfaith Dialogue in the Indonesian Educational System.” Al Albab-Borneo Journal of Religious Studies 2 (1): 67–75.

Wijaya, Yahya. 2014. “Inter-Religious Studies: Reconciling Theology and Religious Studies.” In Dealing with Diversity: Religion, Globalization, Violence, Gender and Disaster in Indonesia, edited by Bernard Adeney-Risakotta, 363–80. Geneva: Globethics.net. https://www.globethics.net/documents/4289936/13403252/Focus_17_web_rev.pdf#page=64