Julien Ehrenkönig is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Anthropology. He is originally from St. Petersburg, Florida where he received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of South Florida in 2011. Julien also earned an M.A. in Anthropology from Northern Illinois University in 2014. During his graduate studies at Northern Illinois University,  Julien was a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellow and later worked with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies conducting outreach, education, and advising for undergraduate students.

Julien’s doctoral dissertation research investigates how comic-books and graphic novels are being used to communicate and shape Islamic discourses in Indonesia. Over the past decade, comic-books and graphic novels have emerged as a tool by the Indonesian government—as well as media publishers and independent artists—to respond to and resist extremist Muslim ideologies and religious conflict within Indonesia. By examining how these media, with their engaging stories and popular graphics, deliver knowledge and moral lessons to readers, Julien’s research works to decipher how these media encourage readers to reorient aspects of their religious beliefs and cultural identity—and how in fact comic-book artists and readers are (re)negotiating Islamic narratives.

Faculty Advisor: Damien Stankiewicz