Sumanto Al Qurtuby

Sumanto Al Qurtuby is cultural anthropologist, social scientist, author, columnist, professor, researcher, public speaker, and comedian. Born in Central Java, Indonesia, Sumanto obtained his PhD from Boston University, specializing in anthropology of Islam and Muslim societies, besides degrees (masters and bachelor) in Islamic studies, sociology of religion, and conflict / peace studies from American and Indonesian universities. Sumanto is also the founder and director of Nusantara Institute on Culture and Religion, as well as co-founder of the Nusantara Kita Foundation.

He is an academic committee member of the Scientific Studies Association and an editorial board of the newly multidisciplinary scholarly journal, Innovation in Social Sciences (National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan).

Since 2014, Sumanto has been a faculty member in the Department of Global & Social Studies at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. Previously, he taught at the University of Notre Dame and Boston University. During his academic career, he was awarded multiple research and teaching fellowships from several research and academic institutions, including the University of Notre Dame, National University of Singapore, Mennonite Central Committee, Kyoto University, National Science Foundation (USA), Earhart Foundation (USA), University of Oxford, among others.

Sumanto has published more than 30 books and hundreds of journal articles and popular essays in both Indonesian and English on issues around Islam, public religion, Muslim politics and cultures, interfaith cooperation, as well as ethno-religious conflict and peacebuilding.