Dutch Anthropologist: UIII is Appealing to International Audience

Dutch Anthropologist and Utrecht University Professor of the Comparative Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies, Prof. Martin van Bruinessen, came to UIII to talk about Muslims Nusantara and the establishment of UIII on Monday, July 17, 2023.

On his visit, the Secretary of UIII, Dr. Chaider S. Bamualim, and the Director of the Central Library of UIII, Dr.Phil. Syafiq Hasyim accompanied him in the meeting room and also strolled around the library of UIII.

He gives his view about the importance of the establishment of UIII, he said that the appearance of UIII will create an international community of students, and it is very stimulating. He saw that interaction with students from different backgrounds is an enormously important experience. Also, he saw that this university is a very ambitious project.

“Apart from the teaching, the interaction with students of different backgrounds, of course, is an enormously important experience in the students growing up and becoming young academics,” stated Prof Martin.

In his view, this university is appealing to an international audience. Prof. Martin sees that Indonesia has several high-quality state Islamic universities, but it comes with the Indonesian language, which is not a language that is very often known by people outside.

“So by creating this university, which comes from the UIN Universitas Islam Indonesia tradition, but it’s in English. [UIII] Indonesia is appealing to an international audience,” his view.

His visit to UIII is to learn a few things. He is curious about how it is starting up and to know about the number of students, how many people from abroad are applying, what problems the university faces, and how this university can appeal to students around Africa.

“So I was curious to see how it is if is starting up, what are the problems it is facing, how many students you have got and how many, how rapidly the number of students is developing, how many people from abroad are applying, and how come people from a country like Sierra Leone and know about this university?” he said.

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