Study of Muslim Societies
Southeast Asia is now the location of the largest number of Muslims in the world, with significant populations in East Asia (China), Southeast Asia, and South Asia. In this regard, SHAPS intends to make a significant contribution to the understanding of Islamic cultures in the region. A major focus of this effort, then, will be to consider and explore the multidimensional role of Islam in the Asian regions. As an important geographical space, Southeast Asia represents the complexity and richness of Muslim Societies in Asia. South Asia provides a unique environment for studying the historical and contemporary links between Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The Muslim populations in Western China offers a third perspective on the interaction between nation and religious identity.
The mission of this new program, then, is to establish a greater understanding of Islamic cultures and histories in Asia. In addition, it aims to create dynamic opportunities for collaborative research, study, and cultural exchange among scholars and students interested in Muslim Societies in Asia. To meet these goals and objectives, SHAPS seeks to support faculty positions and program development in the study of Muslim Asia. Program planning and fund raising activities are currently underway.
Islam and Asia
In response to the public’s growing interest in Islam, in 2007 the Center for Southeast Asian Studies organized “Islamic Cultures in Reflection: A Southeast Asia Photograph Exhibition.” Curated by graduate students Anthony Medrano and Sapril Akhmady, the mission of the exhibition was to visually and substantially address the cultural diversity of Islam in the region. This is an important effort, in itself, given the dominant image and narrative of Islam in American society. Whether it is a Bugis wedding where the bride is beautifully adorned in gold or a colorful classroom full of public school teachers playing games in Mindanao, the hope of this exhibition is to enrich the public’s knowledge of Islam.
“The people,” noted Barbara Watson Andaya, Director of the Center, “were able to contribute to a process that was to give Southeast Asian Islam a distinctive character which it has retained to the present day.” It is this “distinctive character” that has inspired the exhibition, and energized individuals to submit their photographs from places as distant as Aceh and Ithaca. The exhibit travelled to several classroom throughout the state of Hawaii and was sponsored by a grant from the Hawaii Council for the Humanities.