Hefner Testifies Before U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
On December 7, 2021, Robert Hefner, Professor of Anthropology and of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, provided testimony before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on the state of religious freedom in Indonesia.
The event was part of the series, “USCIRF Conversation, Democracy and Religious Freedom: India and Indonesia.” The event highlighted ongoing religious freedom issues facing two of the largest democracies in the world: India and Indonesia. Focusing on these case studies, the event explored barriers these countries are facing in realizing full protection for freedom of religion and belief.
Hefner joined USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza and Commissioner Khizr Khan and guest panelist John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director at the Human Rights Watch. USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava moderated the conversation and questions and answers session that followed.
The details of the event can be viewed on USCIRF’s website. A recording of the event can be viewed below.
Robert Hefner has directed 19 research projects and organized 18 international conferences, and authored or edited nineteen books. He is the former president of the Association for Asian Studies. At CURA, he 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.” Read more about Professor Hefner on his faculty profile.