The Herb Feith Chair for the Study of Indonesia
Greg Barton took up took up his position as the inaugural Herb Feith professorial chair in January 2007.
An Australian who studied Indonesia at Monash at undergraduate and postgraduate level, Greg's research interests in Indonesia are bound up with the
study of religion, modernity, politics and civil society in general, and with progressive Islamic thought in particular.
Greg researches and publishes extensively on Islamic social movements and the influence of Islamic and Islamist thought in Indonesia, its contribution
to the development of civil society and politics, and the emergence of Jihadi terrorism. He also has an active interest in interreligious dialogue. His
publications include Abdurrahman Wahid, Muslim Democrat, Indonesian President: a view from the inside, University of Hawai'i Press and UNSW
Press, 2002) and Indonesia's Struggle: Jemaah Islamiyah and the Soul of Islam (UNSW Press, 2004).
He is well-known as a commentator in print and electronic media in Australia and Indonesia, especially on Islam and Muslim society and politics. Before
taking up the Herb Feith Chair he was an Associate Professor at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) in Honolulu, Hawaii and prior to
that he was an Associate Professor at Deakin University teaching Indonesian studies.
A research chair for the study of Indonesia is of particular significance for the Faculty of Arts, the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash
University and Australian society. It continues and reinforces Monash's commitment to the critical examination of complex political, cultural and
historical issues in Indonesia and strengthens the university's capacity to foster scholarship on Indonesia to the highest standard.
An immediate objective is to further understanding of Indonesia and to provide Australian society with the expertise of a world-ranked scholar and
additional research graduates in this field. Professor Barton is based in the School of Political & Social Inquiry, from where he fosters
collaborative research across a range of disciplines between scholars at Monash and other Australian universities and their colleagues in Indonesia.
