Sumanto Qurtuby

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Sumanto Al Qurtuby joined KFUPM as a faculty member in 2014. Previously, he was a research fellow and a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in the United States, and a visiting senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Sumanto has written more than 30 books, dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals, and hundreds of popular essays, both in English and Indonesian languages. His academic and research interests include the study of Muslim societies and cultures, political and economic activities, conflict and peacebuilding, Arabia–Southeast Asia connection, migration, education, the role of religion in public affairs, among others.

EDUCATION

• PhD in Cultural Anthropology, Boston University, USA
• MA in Conflict Transformation, Eastern Mennonite University, USA
• MS in Sociology of Religion, Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia
• BA in Islamic Law, State Islamic University, Indonesia

SPECIALIZATION

• Cultural anthropology, political economy, conflict & peace studies, sociology/anthropology of religion & economy, transnationalism, modernity, public religion, tourism industry

RECENT RESEARCH

• “Indonesians and Their Arab World: Guided Mobility among Mecca Pilgrims and Labor Migrants”. International Journal of Asian Studies. 2021
• “Grassroots Peacebuilding in Indonesia”. In Jolyon Mitchell and Martyn Percy (eds.), Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Peace. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2021.
• “Islam, Muslim, and Anthropology”. International Journal of Islamic Thought, Vol. 20 (2021). Forthcoming.
• “Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks: On Islamic and Muslim Scholars”. Islam Nusantara: Journal for the Study of Islamic History and Culture 3:1, pp. 17-44, 2021.
• “Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Saudi Arabia” (co-authored with Shafi Aldamer). Contemporary Review of the Middle East 8: 1, pp. 56-76, 2021.
• “The Rise of Islamism and the Future of Indonesian Islam.” Journal of International Studies 16, pp. 105-128, 2020.
• Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks: Migration, Education and Islam. London, UK: I.B. Tauris & Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
• “Islam, Travel and Learning: A Case Study on Indonesian Muslim Student Diasporas in Saudi Arabia.” Journeys: the International Journal of Travel and Travel Writing 21: 2, pp. 42-66, 2020.
• “Buddhism and Worldliness in Modern Taiwan”. Journal of Contemporary Religion 35:3, pp. 543-564, 2020.
• “Pacifying the Radicals: Religious Radicalism, Islamist Militancy, and Peacebuilding Approaches in Contemporary Indonesia”. JATI-Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 24: 1, pp. 1-25, 2019.
• “The Paradox of Civil Society: the Case of Maluku, Eastern Indonesia”, Asian Journal of Social Science, 46, pp. 5-34, 2018.
• “Saudi–Indonesian Relations: Historical Dynamics and Contemporary Development” (co-authored with Shafi Aldamer), Asian Perspective, 42:1, pp. 121-44, 2018.
• “Arabs and Indo Arabs in Indonesia: Historical Dynamics, Social Relations, and Contemporary Change”, International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, Vol. 13: 2, pp. 45–72, 2017.