A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Since the 9/11 tragedy, which triggered the U.S.-led war on terror, relations between the West and Muslim countries have often been marked by suspicion.
Despite the suspicion, the willingness by people in the West to study Islam and learn about other cultures has been on the increase in recent years.
In Indonesia, many discussions and seminars with topics on Islam, democracy, pluralism and tolerance have been organized by non-governmental organizations and universities.
And to broaden university students' knowledge about the United States and its relation to Islam, the U.S. government, through its embassy here, has set up several ""American Corners"" in several campus libraries across the country.
The American Corners provide access to current information about the United States through books, magazines, the Internet, CD-ROMs, DVDs and an online database.
Just recently, an American Corner was established at Hassanuddin University in Makassar.
""The American Corner, which is in the university library, aims to provide information on politics, cultures, education and social life in America,"" a representative from the U.S. Embassy, Keith Bean, was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.
The university's library director Syarifuddin Atje stated that the operational costs of the American Corner, the ninth in the country, were shouldered by the university.
""The embassy provides books, audio-visual materials, a photocopy machine and computers, which are used to access the Internet,"" Syarifuddin added.
The embassy earlier set up an American Corner at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, as well as the ones at Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Walisongo State Islamic University in Semarang and North Sumatra University in Medan.
The University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java; the Muhammadiyah University in Malang, East Java and the Airlangga University in Surabaya have also put up an American Corner in their libraries.
Separately, Danti Pudjiati, a lecturer at Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University, said its American Corner was inaugurated by U.S. Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce in 2004.
""It contains thousands of books, CDs and magazines. We also have a movie program every month,"" Danti said on Thursday.
She said the American Corner, which is located on the second floor of the main library, is managed by Ujang Tholib, the head librarian.
Danti added that hundreds of students regularly visited the American Corner each day.
""The students do not only learn about Islam in America, but also culture and social life,"" she said.
