Hefner Presents at Conference on Islam at George Mason University
Robert Hefner, Professor of Anthropology and International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, gave a presentation at a national conference held at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia on April 11, 2018. The conference was entitled, “What is Islam? Conventional Views and Contemporary Perspectives,” and was organized by the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason.
The conference focused on questions raised in Muslim communities around the world as to the ethical meaning of Islam and being Islamic with the rise and demise of ISIS, and with the widespread appeal for implementation of anti-pluralist interpretations of Islamic law by radical Islamists in recent years.
At the conference, ten scholars explored the changing meanings of Islam and the changing ethics of being Islamic in different portions of the Muslim-majority world.
Hefner presented a paper on, “Plurality in Being Islamic: Perspectives from Indonesia on the Balkans-to-Bengal Legacy.” Hefner’s presentation examined the capaciousness and plurality of “the Islamic” in Southeast Asia from early modern times to today. He emphasized that, notwithstanding radical challenges to that heritage, a significant portion of that pluralist heritage remains in place, and provides social and cultural support for democracy in this, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Robert Hefner has directed 19 research projects and organized 18 international conferences, and authored or edited nineteen books. He is former president of the Association for Asian Studies. At CURA, he has directed the program on Islam and civil society since 1991; coordinated interdisciplinary research and public policy programs on religion, pluralism, and world affairs; and is currently involved in two research projects: “The New Western Plurality and Civic Coexistence: Muslims, Catholics, and Secularists in North America and Western Europe”; and “Sharia Transitions: Islamic Law and Ethical Plurality in the Contemporary World.” You can read more about him here.