An establishment of Doctoral Program of Islamic Politics of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) in 2006 shows the university commitment to contribute to answer Islamic political issues. Establish based on Decree of Directorate General of Islamic Education of Department of Religion of Republic of Indonesia No. Dj.II/451/2006, the doctoral program achieved ‘A’ accreditation according to Decree of BAN-PT No. 0104/SK/BAN-PT/Akred/D/III/2016 so that the program is the only program of Islamic Politics accredited ‘A’ in Indonesia.
“The foundation of the Doctoral Program of Islamic Politics was underlain by discrepancy between expectation and reality. At the beginning of the 21st Century, people around the world, particularly Indonesia, expected the emergence of an awakening era of Islam, including in politics. However, public gets disappointed at Islamic politics in several countries tending to bring bad impacts on people. Indeed, none of doctoral programs focuses on the issue,” declared a professor of Islamic Politics of UMY Prof. Dr. Achmad Nurmandi S.IP. on Wednesday (9/1).
Doctoral Program of Islamic Politics has cooperated with foreign educational institutions and the students are from various countries as a Pilipino student Dr. Hazel D. Jovita, MPA from the Philippines who graduated with her eight other friends in the middle of 2018.
Besides, students at the doctoral program actively join national and international political forums as the 14th CISIS Islamic Studies Postgraduate Conference at the University of Melbourne, the 2nd International Conference on the Humanities, Social Sciences and Sustainability, the 4th International Students Conference on Humanity Issues (ISCOHI), the International Conference on Administrative Science, Policy and Governance Studies (ICAS PGS), and the International Conference on Innovative Research in Science, Technology and Management at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
“We boost our students to participate in the forums to enhance their quality and broader their horizons, especially dealing with current issues of international politics,” added Nurmandi.
Besides, the doctoral program students have published two-indexed journals, three national-accredited journals, five national journals, four books, two book chapters, two proceedings, and two certificated of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
Meanwhile, some internationalization programs have been conducted by the doctoral program through collaborating with foreign institutions as Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), SIAS (China), Flinders University (Australia), Chullalongkorn University (Thailand) and the International Islamic University of Malaysia. In academic year 2019/2020, the doctoral program accepted a student from Mindanao State University (MSU) -Ian Institute Technology, Philippines who is Ajree Ducol Malawani. He achieved a full scholarship from UMY.
Thus, Nurmandi who is also Vice Rector for Cooperation and International Affairs of UMYexpected that the doctoral program can be a center for people passionate about learning Islamic politics. Additionally, he wished that the graduates can contribute to answer political issues. “We will always elevate our quality and promote the department and graduates in international levels,” emphasized Nurmandi.
