Our Faculty Nur Amali Ibrahim
A headshot of smiling Nur Amali Ibrahim who has short, curly black hair, wearing glasses with black frame and a grey wool suit with green, blue, and red flannel shirt. He is standing in the Yale-NUS Campus Green with the Yale-NUS library building in the background.
Nur Amali Ibrahim
Social Sciences (Anthropology)
Associate Professor
Head of Studies, Anthropology

Associate Professor Nur Amali Ibrahim is a sociocultural anthropologist who received his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the National University of Singapore and Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from New York University. He is broadly interested in the governance of populations and forms of citizen politics in the contemporary moment. His first book, Improvisational Islam: Indonesian Youths in a Time of Possibility (Cornell University Press, 2018), examines Muslim student activism in Indonesia following the nation’s political transition from authoritarianism to democracy. He is currently writing his second book, which focuses on the working class in Singapore.

Assoc Prof Nur Amali Ibrahim is broadly interested in the governance of populations and forms of citizen politics in the contemporary moment. His first book, Improvisational Islam: Indonesian Youths in a Time of Possibility (Cornell University Press, 2018), examines Muslim student activism in Indonesia following the nation’s political transition from authoritarianism to democracy. He is currently writing his second book, which focuses on the working class in Singapore.

Research Specialisations
  • Governance
  • Civil Society
  • Social Movements
  • Religion and Secularism
  • Southeast Asia

Selected publications:

Improvisational Islam: Indonesian Youth in a Time of Possibility. 2018. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Accounting for the Soul: Religious Improvisation in Democratic Indonesia. 2018. Anthropological Quarterly. 91(3):1001-1028.

Everyday Authoritarianism: A Political Anthropology of Singapore. 2018. Critical Asian Studies. 50(2):219-231.

Homophobic Muslims: Emerging Trends in Multireligious Singapore. 2016. Comparative Studies in Society and History. 58(4):955-981.

  • Introduction to Anthropology
  • Anthropology Capstone Seminar
  • Modern Southeast Asia
  • Anthropology of Islam
  • Neoliberalism
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