The Indonesianists

Delve into a conversation with Kathy Robinson, An Emeritus Professor of Anthropology in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, on how her interest in Indonesia and international studies started.

On January 7 this year, Indonesia formally joined the BRICS, a bloc formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2009 with the addition of South Africa in 2010. Indonesia is the fifth new member, following Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates who joined in 2024. In this webinar we talk with Dr Lili Yan Ing and Dr Krisna Gupta on the economics of Indonesia joining this new bloc: what are the benefits for Indonesia, how it situates us in the context of US-China relations, and how it will affect our trade and investment flows.Lili Yan Ing is a Lead Advisor (Southeast Asia Region) at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). She was a lead advisor to the Minister of Trade of Indonesia in 2017–2019.Krisna Gupta is a lecturer at Politeknik APP Jakarta and Universitas Indonesia. He is also a senior fellow at Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS). His research focuses on trade and investment policy and how it affects Indonesian firms.

In this episode, Tony Johns is in conversation with Greg Fealy at his home in Canberra. Anthony (Tony) Hearle John was a key figure in the founding of Asian studies at ANU and is one of the seminal figures in the study of Southeast Asian Islam. He spoke about his early life and academic career, and particularly about how he came to be interested in Islam and Qur'anic exegesis. At the age of 93,  he is still engaged in research and publishing. Greg Fealy is a scholar of Indonesian politics and history who specialises in Islam.