UGM spearheads comparative religion program

UGM spearheads comparative religion program

By Sri Wahyuni

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Asians, especially Indonesians, no longer
have to go to the United States to pursue religion comparative
study at postgraduate level. Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada
University (UGM) has recently opened the program, the first of
its kind in Asia.

The program's first batch of 23 students were selected from
some 34 applicants. One is a Hindu, two Christians and the rest
Muslims.

There are 28 lecturers -- 11 of them are foreign, mostly from
the Middle East and U.S.'s Philadelphia Temple University.

The local lecturers are from UGM, Yogyakarta's Kalijaga
Institute of Islamic Religion (IAIN), Yogyakarta's Duta Wacana
Christian University, Yogyakarta's Sanata Dharma Catholic
University and Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga,
Central Java.

Among the courses being offered is Abrahamic Religions which
is an introduction to Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The
program also offers Wisdom Religions which includes Hinduism,
Buddhism and Kong Hu Cu. Other courses include Religion and
Social Sciences, Religion and Natural Sciences, Islam in
Indonesia, Christianity in Indonesia and Islam/Christianity in
Southeast Asia.

The lectures are in English. According to the program's
managing director, Ahmad Mursyidi, the decision to conduct the
lectures in English was made because it is an international
program and designed to accommodate students from all over the
world.

"Students for this academic year are all Indonesians but next
year we will accept foreign students," said Mursyidi, adding that
the program is the first in Asia.

The fact that only 23 students have enrolled for the program,
according UGM's rector Ichlasul Amal, was due to the relatively
limited time in distributing information about the program.

"This program came from 'the top'. Everything was carried out
in rush," Ichlasul said, referring to a joint agreement between
three Indonesian ministers, namely the minister of national
education, minister of religion and minister of foreign affairs,
on which the program was established.

A number of state-run universities, including Kalijaga
Institute and the Jakarta-based University of Indonesia, had been
considered as possible venues for the program but UGM was finally
chosen.

"I don't know why they finally chose UGM to host the program.
But I think it's probably because we have the School of
Philosophy here," said Mursyidi, who is also currently the rector
of Yogyakarta's Muhammadiyah University.

According to Mursyidi, some state-run institutes of Islamic
religion in the country have religion comparative study programs.
However, they are undergraduate programs and all the lecturers
are Muslims although they are dealing with other religions. As a
result, their understanding of the subject may not be accompanied
by empathy, he added.

Mursyidi believes that once empathy is formed among followers
of different religions, it may be possible, in the long-term, to
reduce inter-religion tension, as in Ambon.

UGM's rector Ichlasul Amal added that harmony among followers
of different religions was very important. "Learning religion
comparative study will, hopefully, be able to create mutual
understanding among followers of different religions," he said.

Free

As the program is fully funded by the government, in this case
the Ministry of National Education, all the 23 students are
exempted from the tuition fee of Rp 6 million a year, as they
have been given scholarships by the ministry's Directorate
General of Higher Education.

The scholarship also covers their other expenses, such as Rp
575,000 (US$60) a month for living costs, Rp 70,000 a month for
books and Rp 110,000 a month for research.

Some of the students, however, said it was not only the
scholarship that made them apply for the program. Most of them
said they did so to get a chance to do an in-depth study of other
religions.

"As a Christian, I do feel that I have been too one-sided in
my understanding of religions," said Izak Y.M. Lattu, a student
from Ambon, who is also a Satya Wacana Christian University
graduate. He added that an incomprehensive understanding of
religions had often incited conflict among followers of different
religions.

Another student, I Nyoman Kiriana, a graduate of the state-run
Hindu Religion College Denpasar in Bali, acknowledged that the
spirit of brotherhood among followers of different religions have
actually been among Indonesians since a long time ago.

"Yet, we only understand other religions in bits and pieces.
That's why I applied for the program. I want to learn about other
religions directly from their sources," Kiriana said.