Andrew Weintraub (Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology) has been awarded a 2008 Global Academic Partnership grant by the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) to organize an interdisciplinary international conference on Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia. The conference will be held at the University of Pittsburgh, October 10-12. Fifteen scholars from six countries will address the dynamic, contested, and performative nature of Islam in contemporary Indonesia and Malaysia. In addition to scholarly presentations, the conference will feature the award-winning film Gubra directed by Yasmin Ahmad, and a concert by legendary dangdut superstar Rhoma Irama and his band Soneta.

In May, Weintraub traveled to Kampala, Uganda to develop academic partnerships with administrators, faculty, and students at Makerere University. His visit to Uganda was sponsored by the American Embassy in Uganda, and the Department of Music, Dance, and Drama at Makerere University. The event was organized by Sylvia Nannyonga-Tamusuza, Senior Lecturer at Makerere University, who received her PhD from Pitt in Ethnomusicology (2001). Weintraub and Makerere faculty members discussed collaborative research projects, graduate education, and undergraduate exchange programs between Pitt and Makerere. Weintraub also traveled to Indonesia in July to meet with members of Indonesia's leading Malay orchestras during the 1950s-1970s. Indonesian popular music continues to be a major focus of Weintraub’s research agenda and performance program.