International Symposium of Journal Antropologi Indonesia (ISJAI) is the biggest and well-known international conference of anthropology in Indonesia. Hundreds of presenters came from various countries, present their field works or research on Indonesia in this conference. ISJAI is an event initiated and hosted by Jurnal Antropologi Indonesia, a journal published by Department of Anthropology, Universitas Indonesia since 1969 (formerly name Berita Antropologi, 1969-1989). In order to spread and share the knowledge and experiences, this event was held on other campuses outside the Universitas Indonesia.
The 1st international symposium was held in Makassar, South Sulawesi, August 1-5, 2000, with The Beginning of the 21st Century: Endorsing Regional Autonomy, Understanding Local Cultures, Strengthening National Integration as the main theme. It was meant as Indonesian anthropology’s response to the new chapter of the political system in Indonesia. The Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar acted as the host for the event.
The 2nd international symposium came to response to the globalization impacts in Indonesia and what are the contributions of the new era of reformation. Collaborating with Universitas Andalas as the host, it held in in Padang, West Sumatra, July 18-21, 2001, with the theme Globalization and Local Culture: A Dialectic towards New Indonesia.
A lot of inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts in Indonesia during the five years after reformasi had been the main concern and discussion of social scientists. The 3rd international symposium was held in collaboration with Universitas Udayana, Bali, chose the main theme that was Rebuilding a New Indonesia to come with anthropological answers to the primordial conflicts arose in the country. It took place in Bali on July 2002
The University of Indonesia hosted the 4th international symposium in Depok at July 12-15, 2005. The changing in the global issue to a more partnership in international relationship, has in fact pushed Indonesia to become more active in the global interface. With that notion, the main issue that proposed was: Indonesia in the changing global context: building cooperation or partnership?
Concerns on the environments issues arose when many parties, to include the local government with a powerful and broad authority, seemed to exploit natural resources to develop their regions in a way that threaten sustainability. The Future of Indonesia: Sustainable Development and Local Initiatives in the Post-Capitalist Era was the title of the 5th international symposium was held in Banjarmasin, July 22-26, 2008. The Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, acted as the host for the conference.
The 6th International Symposium was held once more at Universitas Indonesia, Depok-West Java with the main theme “Post-Reformasi Indonesia: The challenges of social inequalities and inclusion” which is driven from our concern of Indonesia situation since Reformasi began in 1998. Indonesia has experienced tremendous political, economic, social, and cultural transformations. The nation has made significant progress in building a more democratic polity.
The 7th international symposium was held at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta with the main theme: “Use and Abuse of Diversity: Anthropological Responses to The Threat of Disintegration.