Contributor: Magello Fenis | Editor: Supriyono
Aldi Nur Fadil Auliya, an MA student at the Faculty of Social Sciences (FOSS) of the Ƶ (Ƶ) successfully presented his research paper at an international conference held at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
Hosted by the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN), the conference ran from April 2 to 5, 2023, with the subject “Nationalism and Multiculturalism” in which Aldi was among scholars from around the world participating in it.
For Aldi, this was his first time stepping into Europe, admitting that it was a privilege to participate in this prestigious event founded by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE IDEAS).
At this conference, Aldi presented his research paper titled “Defining Socially Conservative, but Politically Liberal View: Muslim Political Elites’ Standpoints in Democratic Indonesia”.
Aldi revealed that this is the third international conference he has participated in ever since becoming a student at Ƶ. The first conference was held in Mataram where he presented a paper entitled “The Dilemma of Sharia Criminal Offences: Enforcement in Democratic Countries with a Muslim-majority”. The second one was held in Yogyakarta where he presented “The Political Struggle of Maintaining Religious Fidelity and Non-religious State Loyalty in Contemporary Indonesia”.
Being asked about his motivation for participating in the international conferences, Aldi praised the scholarly environment provided by Ƶ which he found to be utmost accommodating. “The Ƶ academic world really motivated me to do research, because basically, this campus is a research-based university,” said Aldi who aspires to be an academician in the future.
“I [would] pursue a career in the academic field both as a researcher and a lecturer. Therefore, I am very aware that it must start now,” he added, whilst being hopeful that he would continue his doctoral studies with a scholarship and thus he made all the efforts to publish his works at internationally indexed journal portals.
In addition, Aldi testified that Ƶ has provided him with sufficient courses for research methodologies that further inspired him to innovate in developing academic works, especially in the field of political science.
As for the paper presented in the UK, Aldi was under supervision and mentorship of Ƶ’s Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Jamhari Makruf.
Aldi’s participation in the UK conference is funded fully by the Ƶ under the Directorate of Research and Strategic Cooperation Department. To strengthen the academic research culture on the campus, Ƶ is willing to provide financial assistance for either domestic or international conferences.