This Student Successfully Presented a Paper at the 5th International Student Conference

Mahasantri Ma’had Aly Hasyim Asy’ari (MAHA), Alfiya Hanafiyah took part in the 5th International Student Conference at the State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta on 7-8 August 2024. The event was held by the faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought with the theme Studying Religion and Digital Humanities: Opportunities and Challenges. The conference was held with the aim of inviting Indonesian Muslim students to play an active role in responding to the opportunities and challenges of Islamic studies in line with the digital era. Therefore, the participants who attended were those who passed the selection in the form of abstracts from the papers that had been sent.

Of the many participants who registered, only 20 participants’ abstracts passed and were entitled to take part in the conference. There are 6 sub-themes offered, namely: Digital Transformation in Religion Studies, Islamic Studies-Religious Practices and Digital Ethics, Academic Teaching in the 21th Century, AI-Philosophy and Theological Discourse, Qur’an and Hadith Analysis through AI, and Social Media and Religious Changing.

Uniquely, the conference uses English and Arabic. Apart from that, the conference was attended by 5 national and international speakers. The speakers are: Aiman ​​Witjaksono (Editor in Chief of iNews and SindoNews TV), Subkhani Khusuma Dewi (PhD Graduate Western Sydney University), Syahril Siddik (PhD Graduate Leiden University), Ali Imron (Head of the Department of Qur’anic Studies and Tafsir), and Matteo Vergani (Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer at Deakin University).

“Among the aims of holding this conference is as a means of promoting the Ushuluddin faculty and Islamic Thought at UIN Sunan Kalijaga at the international level, apart from that, it is also a space to express research results, ideas and knowledge of students across levels of education regarding Islamic Studies and Modern Science,” said Prof. Dr. Inayah Rohmaniyyah, M. Hum. M.A (Dean of FUPI) in English.

“Actually, I was the second author who was given the opportunity to present the results of my research at this event. The sub theme I took was Social Media and Religious Changes. However, I am grateful that my learning journey at Ma’had Aly was able to lead me to this point,” said Alfiya after successfully presenting her paper in English.

Participants who took part in the two-day conference came from across levels of education (undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees), across campuses and across study programs. Thanks to this conference, participants received many benefits, namely being able to gain valuable knowledge and experience. Because in each plenary session, participants are allowed to ask questions and discuss with the resource person. This makes the conference even more lively and lit.

By: Alfiya Hanafiyah