Dylan Renca received the Fulbright–Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Award in 2022 and conducted his research on multiculturalism, selfhood, and belonging supported through an affiliation with the Center for Religious & Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS) at Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Dylan Renca, an anthropology doctoral student and Fulbright-Hays fellow from Boston University, received an award of $1,800 from the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF) to host a workshop in Solo, Indonesia on November 21, 2023 focused on sharing and solidarity-building among penghayat kepercayaan Indonesians who have faced social stigma and structural discrimination for their commitment to living out traditions passed down from their ancestors. The workshop’s attendees, who hailed from the regions of Cilacap and Solo see strong resonances between their lived experiences and those of Indigenous peoples across the world. In designing the workshop, Dylan worked closely with his host academic institution in Indonesia, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies (CRCS UGM).
The November workshop was part of Dylan’s engagement project, an opportunity AMINEF provides Fulbright fellows to “give back” to the communities they are researching with and the academic institutions sponsoring their work in Indonesia. Dylan has spent the past nine months working on an ethnographic project with penghayat kepercayaan members in Cilacap regency, Central Java, and he travelled together with his contacts to the workshop.
CRCS UGM’s director, Dr. Samsul Maarif, was actively involved in the planning and implementation of the workshop, drawing on over a decade of experience as an advocate for penghayat kepercayaan Indonesians. Dylan also extended special invitations to several graduate students from CRCS UGM and activists from two civil society organizations, Intersectional Collaboration for Indigenous Religions (ICIR) “Rumah Bersama” and Yayasan Lembaga Kajian Islam dan Sosial (LKiS). Both the CRCS graduate students and activists were invited to take on roles as discussion moderators during the workshop.
Additionally, Dylan used a portion of the AMINEF funding to enable participants from the workshop to join “The 5th International Conference and Consolidation on Indigenous Religions: Democracy of the Vulnerable.” The conference ran from Nov. 22-23 and took place at the Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) in Solo. Jointly hosted by CRCS UGM and The Center for Excellence in Javanologi Science and Technology at UNS, the conference “focuses on the voices of vulnerable groups whose citizenship rights, interests, and aspirations are rarely addressed [allowing]…indigenous communities, groups of religious and gender minorities, disability groups, and children and young people to amplify their ideas, insights, and experiences on democracy.”
While attending the conference, penghayat kepercayaan members were invited to sell products produced in their home villages and share songs, dances, poetry, and other traditions they find meaningful with the wider conference audience during an evening performance on Nov. 22.
Dylan’s dissertation research focuses on multiculturalism, selfhood, and belonging. Since arriving in Cilacap, he has crisscrossed the regency, listening to penghayat kepercayaan members’ perspectives on state efforts to extend recognition and rights to their communities and the way in which members articulate senses of selfhood and conceive of political belonging in multicultural Indonesia.
