Dr. Siti Syamsiyatun, 2008 Fulbright Visiting Specialist who lectured about Islam in Indonesia at College of Idaho won the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund 2013 of the U.S. Department of State in the category of Conflict Resolution. Her project would be on the topic of “Interfaith Youth Pilgrimage”. This is a research project using multi-religious pilgrimage approach where the participating youths will experience the sacred spaces of ‘the others’. The Program focuses on problem solving, and will develop strategies addressing religious conflict.

The four months research which will be conducted between September 1 to December 29, 2013 in Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Salatiga, and Magelang.

The stated goals of the project are to develop among the participants a deeper understanding of the roots of religious conflict in Indonesia and develop strategies to resolve interfaith problems; to provide an opportunity to share their inter-religious ideas, and express their beliefs freely to other members of different faith communities; to gain the important opportunity to build an interfaith and peace-building network among each other and the institutions with which they will engage throughout the program; to learn how pluralism and tolerance are practiced on a day-to-day basis in various sacred spaces with different faith communities; and finally, to engage the media and how to spread positive sentiments and values to the public through the media.

Dr. Syamsiyatun is currently Director of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) of the Gadjah Mada University Graduate School. ICRS was established in 2006 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the three Rectors from Gadjah Mada University, State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga (UIN), and Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW). The Consortium offers Master’s and Ph.D. programs in the study of religions. It offers a unique single integrative and interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in religious studies between Muslim, Christian and “secular” universities. The students are coming from different countries in the world including from China, the Philippines, United States, Egypt, Serbia, Poland, Singapore, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.