Peter Worsley

Professor Peter Worsley is Professor Emeritus in the School of Languages and Cultures within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, affiliated with the Department of Indonesian Studies. He obtained his BA with First Class Honours and University Medal from the University of Sydney in 1962, followed by a DLitt from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in 1972. His professional career commenced at the University of Leiden from 1965 to 1972. He then served as Professor of Indonesian and Malayan Studies at the University of Sydney from 1973 to 2000, after which he became Professor Emeritus. Subsequently, he held a Visiting Fellowship at the Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University, from 2000 to 2014, collaborating with Dr. Supomo on an annotated edition, translation, and commentary of the Old Javanese epic kakawin Sumanāsāntaka. In 2015, he was Visiting Professor at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA) at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, contributing to a project on 'Transformation of Religions as Reflected in Javanese Texts,' focusing on palaces, landscapes, and the heavenly world in the ancient Javanese imaginary. From 2009 to 2013, he participated in an ARC Linkage Grant project with Prof. Adrian Vickers, Dr. Siobhan Campbell, and Stan Florek on 'Understanding Balinese paintings: collections, narrative, aesthetics and society.'

Peter Worsley's research specializations encompass the social and cultural history of premodern Southeast Asia, with particular emphasis on Indonesian, Balinese, and ancient Javanese literature and visual arts. His academic interests include the history of art and literature of premodern Java and Bali, Javanese and Balinese conceptions of kingship and political culture, and their concepts of environment and cosmological order. He has addressed historiographical issues in interpreting 19th- and early 20th-century Balinese paintings. Major publications include Babad Buleleng: A Balinese Dynastic Genealogy (1972); Mpu Monaguṇa’s Sumanasāntaka: An Old Javanese Epic Poem, its Indian Source and Balinese Illustrations (Brill, 2013); Kakawin Sumanasāntaka: Mati Karena Bunga Sumanasa (2014); 'Journeys and Landscapes: some preliminary remarks on ancient Javanese perceptions of their lived environment' (2012); and 'The History of a Narrative. The Story of Prince Aja and Princess Indumati in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Bali' (2014). Currently, he is preparing an annotated edition, translation, and commentary of the late 18th-century Balinese Kidung Sumanasantaka and researching a book on the social and cultural history of Bali from 1800 to 1940 based on Balinese paintings of that period.

Professional Email: peter.worsley@sydney.edu.au