Jonthon Coulson, Author at Institute of Current World Affairs

Jonthon returned to Indonesia to explore the country’s educational spaces, which are increasingly affected by both foreign entrants and governmental decentralization. His particular focus was on the role education plays in the formation of identity, wherein Jonthon examined how educational experiences lead religious and national identities to emerge, converge and diverge. In using education as a lens, Jonthon looked far beyond schools and schooling to the public pedagogies, endangered languages and subaltern knowledge that he hopes will offer others insight into “becoming-Indonesia.” The world’s fourth-most populous country (and largest population of Muslims in the world) remains a relatively unknown archipelagic nation that is changing rapidly—in ways that have implications for the regional and the global community. Jonthon took a leave of absence from his doctoral program at Columbia University Teachers College to accept the ICWA fellowship. He previously lived in Indonesia as a Fulbright Scholar and U.S. State Department English Language Fellow.

Posts and Dispatches from Jonthon Coulson:

Education and exclusion for special needs students in Indonesia
At one school in central Java, dedicated teachers are at the vanguard of a field largely ignored by the country's policymakers. ...
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In Indonesia, one language for all?
Efforts to instill national unity are diminishing regional identities....
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Defining “Radical:” The problems and politics of deradicalizing Indonesia’s Muslim boarding schools
Solo, Indonesia — How many graduates must be arrested on terrorism charges for the Indonesian government to shut down a school? Whatever tipping point you may have in mind, Ngruki’s alumni list is probably multiples of that number. The school is among the most famous terrorist training sites in Indonesia. Since its founding in 1972,...
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Bureaucracy weighs down Indonesian education
Jakarta university educators must scan their fingerprints on one of 15 machines on campus every morning, afternoon and evening....
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A safe space for Indonesia’s transgender Muslims
A Jakarta school enables students to rediscover their faith....
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Saudi “philanthrocapitalism” in Indonesian educational spaces
JAKARTA, Indonesia — An entourage of 1,500 people, consisting of more than 800 delegates, 25 princes and 10 ministers. Over 500 tons of cargo, including two Mercedes Benz limousines and two electric elevators. Seven planes. All for a one-week trip to Indonesia. The grandeur of the proposed visit by King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud,...
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Civil liberties and tyrannical majorities
“Everyone has the right to advocate individually or collectively to advance her people, nation, and country… to express her thoughts and attitudes in accordance with her conscience… [and] to communicate and obtain information to develop her personal and social environment.” —Article 28 of the Indonesian constitution (1945)[1] JAKARTA, Indonesia — The back courtyard of the coffee...
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Transpuanism
MAJENE, Indonesia — Oyhe and Chycong were teased as kids because their family struggled financially. Times got especially tough after their father died during their first year of elementary school, but their mother forbade her seven children to work. She wanted them to have a childhood. Throughout their youth, the boys were also teased more frequently...
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The Sacred Bridge
In a recent Newsletter (JVC-3), I shared the perspectives of Acehnese Muslims in an attempt to complicate singular notions of Islam. The Story of the Stick tuned in to the (dis)harmonies of Islamic belief and practice, and set the stage for a consideration of the role that religiosity and gender play in Banda Aceh’s political...
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Twice as Hard for Half the Credit
A year ago, the Walikota [mayor] of Banda Aceh made headlines by declaring Valentine’s Day haram [forbidden]. “Many Muslim youth in Banda Aceh are sending Valentine’s day greetings via social media. And it is the responsibility of the city government to ensure this does not happen again…Muslim youth should certainly not be celebrating non-Islamic culture,”...
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