Syed Farid Alatas is Associate Professor of Sociology at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He headed the Department of Malay Studies at NUS from 2007-13. Prior to joining NUS, Alatas lectured at the University of Malaya in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies. His areas of interest are social thought, the sociology of religion and intra- and inter-religious dialogue. His books include “Alternative Discourse in Asian Social Science: Responses to Eurocentrism” (Sage, 2006), “Ibn Khaldun” (Oxford University Press, 2013) and “Applying Ibn Khaldun” (Routledge, 2014).