The Faculty of Islamic Studies at Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) is pleased to announce an International Conference on “Manuscripts and the Diversity of Islam(s) in Southeast Asia,” to be held on 19–20 August 2026 at the Faculty A Building, UIII, Depok, Indonesia.
This conference aims to explore Islamic manuscripts and written cultures across Southeast Asia by advancing new perspectives on the reading and interpretation of the rich diversity of textual, visual, and material expressions produced from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries.
While Southeast Asia—with Indonesia as a primary hub—is home to a vast corpus of Islamic manuscripts written in multiple scripts (Arabic, Jawi, Pegon, and others), these pluralistic textual cultures have often been overlooked or marginalized under inherited pre-Islamic notions of Bhinneka (diversity). This conference seeks to illuminate how these manuscripts reflect a plurality of “Islam(s)” that define the region’s unique intellectual and cultural heritage.
We invite scholars, researchers, PhD students, historians, art curators, philologists, and digital humanists to examine both continuity and rupture in the production, circulation, and preservation of knowledge throughout Islamic Southeast Asia. The conference seeks to bridge traditional approaches in codicology with innovative methods in the digital humanities.
The conference will feature distinguished scholars, including Farish A. Noor (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia), as well as invited speakers Andrew Peacock (University of St Andrews) (to be confirmed), Mulaika Hijjas (SOAS University of London) (to be confirmed), Oman Fathurahman (UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta), and Ervan Nurtawab (UIN Jurai Siwo Lampung).
Scholars at all stages of their academic careers are encouraged to submit abstracts addressing themes related to Islamic manuscripts, written traditions, and intellectual diversity in Southeast Asia. Accepted participants will be invited to present their papers during the conference and contribute to critical discussions on the future directions of manuscript studies and Islamic intellectual history.
We encourage a broad range of theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that can advance critical discourse regarding written traditions in Southeast Asia. Proposed topics for submission include, but are not limited to:
- The Materiality of Texts
- Visual Expression and Aesthetics
- Digital Archives and Islamic Heritage
- Knowledge Production and Circulation
- Philology and Textual Criticism
- Codicology and the History of Scripts
- Manuscripts in Social and Cultural Contexts
- Preservation and Archival Challenges
- Literary Traditions and Genre Diversity
- Gender and Representation in Manuscript Cultures
We invite submissions from scholars at all stages of their academic careers, including PhD students and early-career researchers. The submission process includes:
- Abstracts should be written in English or Arabic and consist of up to 350 words.
- Authors of accepted abstracts are expected to submit a full paper in English or Arabic, ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 words (excluding references).
- All submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submissions will be peer-reviewed by a panel of experts in the field.
- Submit your abstract or paper via our online submission system: https://s.uiii.id/Abstract_Submission_InternationalConference_2026
- Include a title, author(s), name(s), affiliation(s), contact information, and a brief speaker’s bio (no more than 500 words).
- Abstracts Submission Deadline: March 7, 2026
- Notification of Acceptance: March 30, 2026
- Deadline for Final Papers: July 15, 2026
- Conference Dates: August 19-20, 2026
- Participants are responsible for arranging their own accommodation and transportation to the UIII campus in Depok, West Java.
- Certificates will be provided.
For further information and abstract submission, please visit the conference website or contact the organizing committee at:
Email: mughzi.abdillah@uiii.ac.id / islamic.studies@uiii.ac.id