Indonesia
Unisma’s Multicultural Islamic Religious Education (PAI) Doctoral Program held open dissertation defenses under strict health protocols. All attendees wore masks, maintained physical distance, and had hand sanitizer readily available throughout the room.
The examinations, held Friday, July 2, 2021, were also accessible via Unisma Postgraduate Program’s YouTube channel. Organizers limited in-person attendance to reduce exposure risk amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
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Strict health protocols shaped every session throughout the day. During the first session, candidate Achmad Anwar Abidin, M.PdI, defended his dissertation before an audience of just three attendees, two children, and a handful of fellow classmates.
Abidin presented findings from his research titled “Instilling Multicultural Islamic Education Values to Strengthen Tolerant Behavior Among Ngepeh Community, Rejoagung, Ngoro, Jombang.”
Read also: Doctoral Graduate Examines Multicultural Integration in Post-Conflict Poso
The second session likewise enforced physical distancing, attended only by family and a small number of relatives.
Candidate Khoirul Anwar, M.Pd.I, presented research on multicultural Islamic education values within Catholic schools serving students from diverse religious backgrounds. His dissertation, “Implementing Multicultural Islamic Education Values: A Multi-Site Study on Islamic Religious Education Learning Processes at Pelita Hati Elementary School, Jember, and Santo Yusuf Catholic Elementary School, Sukoreno,” examined how these values take shape in a religiously mixed educational setting.
Strict health measures did nothing to diminish the substance of the examinations themselves. Both Achmad Anwar Abidin and Khoirul Anwar graduated with distinction, officially earning the right to use their doctoral titles following the graduation confirmation ceremony (Yudisium).
