Dr. phil. Imam Ardhianto is the Chair of the UI Department of Anthropology for the 2024–2028 period, a lecturer, and a researcher focusing on the study of religion, ritual, and healthcare. His research explores the relationship between ritual practices, religious ideas, and modern biomedical infrastructure, particularly in the context of palliative and end-of-life care. He examines the interconnections of religion, magic, and kinship within political dynamics, social transformation, and the environment, in both rural and urban settings. With a background in cross-institutional studies in Indonesia, France, and Germany, Imam brings a comparative and reflective approach to understanding religious change and social practices amidst the currents of modernization and globalization. His research positions religious issues in close relation to the transformation of living spaces and health, while contributing to the discourses of religious and medical anthropology.
Profile and Research Interests
Education
- BA in Anthropology, Universitas Indonesia (2006)
- MA in Anthropology, Universitas Indonesia (2013)
- MA in Geography and Anthropology, EHESS France (2014)
- PhD in Anthropology, University of Freiburg, Germany (2019)
Selected Publications
- Ardhianto, I. (2022). Hierarchies of power: evangelical Christianity and Adat transformation in Indonesian Borneo. Singapore, SG: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Ardhianto, I., & Claudia, L. (2023). Anthropology of Christianity: An Overview of Challenges, Boundaries, and Opportunities in the Study of Religious Change within the Discipline of Anthropology. Jurnal Masyarakat dan Budaya, 25(2).
- Ardhianto, I., & Prasetyo, I. (2023). Precarious frontier and the handling of COVID-19 in Indigenous communities in Borneo. Melbourne Asia Review, 2023(16).
- Ardhianto, I. (2023). Trans-Cultural Encounters, Positionalities, and Socio-Historical Burdens: A Reflection from a Muslim Anthropologist on Studying Christianity in Central Borneo. In In Tandem–Pathways towards a Postcolonial Anthropology| Im Tandem–Wege zu einer postkolonialen Ethnologie (pp. 149-165). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
- Ardhianto, I. (2018). Contemporary Islamic movement, popular culture and public sphere in Indonesia: The #IndonesiaTanpaJIL movement. Archipel. Études interdisciplinaires sur le monde insulindien, (95), 151-171.”
- Ardhianto, I. (2017). The politics of conversion: religious change, materiality and social hierarchy in Central Upland Borneo. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 18(2), 119-134.
Courses
- History of Human Culture
- Social Organization and Kinship Systems
- Classical Anthropological Theory
- Religion and Magic in Anthropology
- Anthropological Research Methods
- Applied Anthropology
- Humanitarian Economics and Disasters
- Tradition, Modernity, and Social Change
