Hikmawan Saefullah

Hikmawan ‘Indra’ Saefullah is Lecturer in Digital Humanities (Indonesian Focus) at the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, University of New England (UNE). While primarily teaches Indonesian Studies, he also teaches some Political & International Studies and Sociology units. Prior to his current role at UNE, he was teaching Politics and International Relations at several universities in Indonesia, including Padjadjaran University, Parahyangan Catholic University, and President University. His teaching and research interests stem from his involvement in the Indonesian underground music scene and student activism during the Reformasi era (late 1990s and early 2000s). His Ph.D. thesis, titled “Transformations of Youth Resistance: Underground Music Scene and Islamic Politics in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia” (Murdoch University), discusses the transformative nature of youth resistance in responding to precarious social, political, and economic conditions in post-authoritarian Indonesia. It explains why some underground music scene participants that were once known as secular, liberal, and leftist shifted ideologically to Islamic conservatism and right-wing Islamism following the Reformasi and US-led War on Terrorism in the world’s largest Muslim nation. His Ph.D. research has drawn him to a deeper interest in the studies of Indonesian politics, subculture/counterculture, social movement, youth, and Islam, Islamic politics, and Islamism in Indonesia and their connection with the broader Southeast Asia and the Middle East region.

He previously taught various courses or units in the fields of Politics and International Relations, including Introduction to International Relations (FBI02304), Introduction to Political Science (FBI01202), Political Islam (SHI261), Cyber Diplomacy (G10B408), International Relations in Africa (SHI253 & G10B799), International Relations in the Middle East and North Africa (G10B502), Contemporary Political Issues (PAIS370/570), and INDN331/531 Islam, Society and the State in Contemporary Indonesia. 

He currently teaches: 

• INDN101 Indonesian Language 1A
• INDN102 Indonesian Language 1B
• INDN302 Indonesian Language 3B
• LANG306 Culture, Society, and Language in Asia
• SOCY356/556 The State, Power, and Violence
• SOCY300/500 The City and Social Change