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Discourse: UIII aspires to present Indonesia’s Islam to the world
The Jakarta Post’s Marchio Irfan Gorbiano recently spoke to UIII’s rector Komaruddin Hidayat and the dean of UIII’s Faculty of Social Sciences Philips J. Vermonte about the new university and other topics.
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All set: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (center), accompanied by then-vice president Jusuf Kalla (right) and then-West Java governor Ahmad Heryawan, lays the cornerstone of the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII) on June 5, 2018 in Depok, West Java. (Antara/Wahyu Putro A.)
T
he Indonesian Islamic International University (UIII) began its first academic year early last week, three years after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated the construction of its sprawling campus in Depok, West Java, in 2018. Part of President Jokowi’s administration’s national strategic projects, the university is aimed at promoting Indonesia's version of Islam. For the first year, the university took in 98 students from 59 countries, who are all on scholarships.
UIII has also enlisted top Muslim scholars in a series of lectures, who are expected to bring the latest debates about Islam and global politics to Indonesia’s academic scene, including The Australian National University’s Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies deputy director James Piscatori and Warwick University’s Dr. Abdullah Sahin. The Jakarta Post’s Marchio Irfan Gorbiano recently spoke with UIII’s rector Komaruddin Hidayat and dean of the university's Faculty of Social Sciences, Philips J. Vermonte about the journey ahead.
Question: What are UIII’s long-term goals? What kinds of outputs are UIII aiming to produce?
Answer
Komaruddin:
The question is, why was the university established and to what end? There are at least four reasons.
