Ahmad Norma Permata will examine “The Politicization of Religion in Democratizing Indonesia” with a view to exploring how both religious and secular political parties use religious issues for their own advantages. He believes that the United States will be a good venue for such research given that many theoretical frameworks in his field come from American experts, from whom he wishes to learn more.

Ahmad is a political scientist who lectures at the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at Sunan Kalijaga Islam State University (UIN) Yogyakarta. He earned his bachelor’s degree in comparative religions from Muhammadiyah University Surakarta, a master’s in religious relations from UIN Sunan Kalijaga, and a PhD in political science from University of Muenster in Germany.