Course Title : Religion and Human Rights in Southeast Asia
Course degree : Graduate level course (MA or PhD)
Faculty : Graduate School
Study Program : Political science, law, anthropology and theology
Number of Credits : 3 credits
Tuition Fee : Rp 1.000.000,-/credit
Class code : SPS IR 9180
Eligibility : Graduate international students (foreign students)
Class coordinator : Zainal Abidin Bagir (zainalbagir@ugm.ac.id HP: 087882512851)
About this course
One of the distinguishing characteristics of Southeast Asia is its diversity in terms of culture, language and religion. As in other parts of the world, religion has also been an increasingly important factor in policies, including in upholding human rights. Since 2012, this region has also had its own ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. This course understands human rights as a major and influential discourse of human dignity as well as a regime of treaties, institutions, legal norms and practices to protect individuals and groups across the globe. It will introduce students to the many facets of the interface between human rights and religion, with special attention given to rights to freedom of religion or belief (FORB). It will discuss core concepts in religion and human rights, especially FORB, with illustrations as well as case studies from Southeast Asian countries.
The course starts by introducing the history and main concepts of human rights, continued with discussion of central issues. Of special importance is the “Asian Values” debate and its recent manifestations of particularism in different countries. After more general discussions, this course will delve into FORB, which has become a central part of the management of religious diversity in many places, and takes up more specific issues such as the relation between FORB and other rights and gender issues. Southeast Asian countries will be featured as illustrations of the concepts, as well as comparative case studies focusing on the norms, constitutional setups, legal frameworks, societal practices and politics of FORB.
Syllabus
In addition to Zainal Abidin Bagir and Dicky Sofjan as the two main instructors, the course will invite guest lecturers for special topics and country discussions.
| # | Topics | Lecturer |
| 1 | Introduction: Course Framing. Histories of UDHR. | Zainal Abidin Bagir and Dicky Sofjan |
| A. Foundations | ||
| 2 | UDHR and ASEAN Human Rights Declaration: History and controversies | Zainal Abidin Bagir and Dicky Sofjan |
| 3 | Universality vs. Particularity: The Asian Values debate and its recent manifestations | Zainal Abidin Bagir and Dicky Sofjan |
| 4 | Decolonizing Human Rights? | Zainal Abidin Bagir and Dicky Sofjan |
| B. Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) | ||
| 5 | FoRB: normative core, limitations and institutions | Zainal Abidin Bagir and Dicky Sofjan |
| 6 | Intersection between FoRB and other rights (gender equality and freedom of expression) | Zainal Abidin Bagir and Dicky Sofjan |
| 7 | The Politics of FoRB | Zainal Abidin Bagir and Dicky Sofjan |
| C. Selected Case Studies | ||
| 8 | FORB in Indonesia | Dicky Sofjan and Zainal Abidin Bagir |
| 9 | FORB in Malaysia and Singapore | Dicky Sofjan and Zainal Abidin Bagir |
| 10 | FORB in Myanmar and Thailand | Dicky Sofjan and Zainal Abidin Bagir |
| 11 | FORB in Vietnam and Cambodia | Dicky Sofjan and Zainal Abidin Bagir |
| 12 | The Prospect of HR/FORB in ASEAN | Dicky Sofjan and Zainal Abidin Bagir |
How to Apply
- We limit the maximum number of programs you can apply to 3 courses. After you read the detail about each programs, please kindly follow the instructions of apply here
- Then, you can start applying to admission.ugm.ac.id/register
- Find the course entitled ‘GAMA-iC’ in the Student Exchange category
- [IMPORTANT] If you register and complete the document requirements to:
- 1 course, you can apply to ‘GAMA-iC Spring Semester 2022 (1 course)’
- 2 courses, you can apply to ‘GAMA-iC Spring Semester 2022 (2 courses)’
- 3 courses, you can apply to ‘GAMA-iC Spring Semester 2022 (3 courses)’
- After that, you need to fill this form to select your course
- You will receive Letter of Offer before January, 12th 2021 and you need to pay the tuition fee based on your Letter of Offer (LO)
- After we received your payment, you will receive your Letter of Acceptance (LoA)