SIPA EVENT: Lecture by Dr. Amien Rais
All Journalism students and faculty are invited to this public lecture.
Dr. Amien Rais:
Islam and Democracy in Indonesia: Some Major Problems I faced as a Muslim Democratic Activist and How I Addressed Them.
Date: Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Time: 4-6pm
Location: Room 1501, International Affairs Building
Columbia University
Dr. Amien Rais, former chairman of Indonesia’s largest modernist Islamic Organization Muhammadiyah (25-30 million members) became a leading democratic activist in the 1997 and 1998 demonstrations against President Suharto. He later served as Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly during the round of constitutional reforms that revived and amended Indonesia’s democratic 1945 constitution.
In his talk, Amien Rais will discuss his role as the leader of a multi-milllion Muslim constituency during the last years of the New Order and address some of the difficulties he faced in his pro-democratic struggle.
Dr. Rais received a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1984 and an MA from the University of Notre Dame.
A reception, co-sponsored by SIPA’s Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR), and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI), will follow the lecture.
