Islamic Culture(s), Nation-building and the Media: Contemporary Issues - Public Lecture by Key-note speakers
Friday 22 September 2006, 10.00 am - 12.00 noon (with Registration
beginning at 9.15 am)
The Grand Ballroom, The Windsor
Hotel, 103 Spring Street, Melbourne 3000
| 9.15 am | Registration for Public Lecture |
| 10.00 am | 'The
santri view of the Indonesian state' Professor Abdul Munir Mulkhan, State Islamic University of Yogyakarta, Central Java |
| 10.50 am | Morning Tea |
| 11.10 am | "Islam
and the divine nature of man" Prof Hossein Elahi Ghomshei Professor of Philosophy & Literature, formerly of Tehran University |
The Lectures
"The santri view of the Indonesian state"
Prof
Dr Abdul Munir Mulkhan
Professor Abdul Munir Mulkhan,
State Islamic University of Yogyakarta, Central Java
About the speaker
Abdul Munir Mulkhan is Professor of the Philosophy of Education in the State Islamic University of Yogyakarta, Central Java. He is better known, however, as one of Indonesia's best-loved authors, having written some 43 books. His huge public profile is based largely on his bestseller, 'Sheikh Siti Jenar: his teachings and the way of death' (2001). The book has just reappeared in its 18 th edition. Sheikh Siti Jenar, the hero of the story, incurred the wrath of Java's sixteenth century Muslim establishment for his non-conformist ideology, for which he was eventually executed. Fearful of uprisings by his supporters, his executioners replaced his body with a dog in order to discredit him. In Munir's interpretation, this story is about the corruption and censorship that ensue when religious movements atrophy into self-preserving bureaucracies. He uses it as an indictment of Indonesia's contemporary religious establishment, and specifically as a critique of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Muslim organisation. Ironically, Munir is a long serving member and office-bearer of Muhammadiyah. In a characteristically Indonesian compromise, Munir's critique of Muhammadiyah appears to have only firmed his value to the organisation.
The book's popularity in Indonesia has two sides. The first is its retelling of a beloved Javanese political drama. The second is its highly contemporary political relevance. Prof. Dr. Mulkhan has now become a reference point in a continuing debate in Indonesian Islamic society about the relationship between 'Universal' Islams and 'Local' Islams. He rejects simplifying universalist understandings, preferring instead to see Islam as a process of constant evolution in specifically local contexts.
Dr Munir Mulkhan will speak in his native Indonesian language. A simultaneous translation will make his arguments accessible to an English-speaking audience.
"Islam and the Divine Nature of Man"
Prof Hossein Elahi Ghomshei
Professor of Philosophy & Literature, formerly Tehran
University
About the speaker
Hossein Mohiyeddin Ghomshei (Elahi) is a Professor of Philosophy and Literature, an international Author and Lecturer in Persian literature and Islamic mysticism. He was born in Tehran and received his PhD on Islamic Theology and Philosophy from Tehran University. He is an expert in Persian mystical literature, aesthetics, as well as English literature.
Prof Ghomshei's literary versatility is demonstrated by his numerous publications on philosophy and mysticism in English, Persian, Arabic and Indian literature . A selection of his published works include: the Discourses of Rumi; The Seven Stations of Love (introduction to Attar's life & work); Selection from Attar's Conference of Birds(Mantiq-al-Tayr); Divan Hafez (A critical edition of Hafez's collected poems); essays on Persian mystical literature; Poetics and Aesthetics;Kimia; Collected Essays and Poems (Vol.1-5); Introduction to Golshan-e- Raz (Sheikh Mahmoud Shabestari); A Bilingual Primer of English Literary Translations; Shakespeare & His Theater(translation); The Prophet (translation from Kahlil Gibran); 365 Days with Saadi .
Prof Ghomshei has presented many enchanting lectures around the world, drawing on his phenomenal power of memory, and in-depth understanding both Eastern and Western literatures and mysticism.
View Prof Ghomshei's curriculum vitae
Registration for the public lecture
Registration (essential) with "Public Lecture - Islam" in the subject heading of the email to Dr Tony Donaldson, tony.donaldson@adm.monash.edu.au Dr Tony Donaldson at tony.donaldson@adm. monash.edu.au
Entry fee: $20.00 per
head; (Full-time students: free with Student ID
card);
(cash payment at the door or in advance by credit
card or cheque) -
Download form for payment in advance .
General Enquiries
Ms Juliet Yee at monash.asia.institute@adm. monash.edu.au
DOWNLOADS : Workshop Brochure | Programme | Abstracts | Registration and Payment form for Public Lecture