Dr. James Hoesterey is a cultural anthropologist whose research focuses on popular culture, religious authority, and political Islam. His first book explores post-Islamist politics in Indonesia through the story of the rise and fall of Indonesia’s celebrity televangelist Aa Gym (Sufis and Self-help Gurus: Televangelism, Public Piety, and Political Islam in Indonesia; forthcoming 2015, Stanford University Press). Hoesterey has also published on Islamic cinema and has served as anthropological consultant for documentary films broadcast worldwide on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC. In his current research, Hoesterey examines religious diplomacy in Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State. Hoesterey serves as the chair of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Studies Committee for the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and also serves on the board for the Commission for Visual Anthropology (CVA).

Contact Information

Email: jbhoesterey@emory.edu

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