Research Focus Areas

Short Biography

Amelia Rugun Sirait graduated from UCL’s Digital Anthropology masters programme in 2023. She started her anthropological endeavors at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where she enrolled in the cultural anthropology programme.

Rugun joined the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna in March 2025 as a researcher in the ANTHROFUTURE project.

Her master’s thesis addressed the sonic side of TikTok as a social media platform, entitled 'Jedag jedug: the high-speed sound meme of Indonesian TikTok'. This research was developed into several iterations; a public presentation, a podcast, and a multimodal art installation. While her bachelor’s thesis discussed second accounts on Instagram for young female users.

Rugun has a strong interest in various forms of media, such as the internet (and its culture), documentary films, photography, music, and sound. Over the years has worked in film programming, public-cultural programming, and film producing. She strongly believes that media cannot be separated from its context and the issues surrounding it.

Selected Publications

Jurriëns, Edwin, Aryo Danusiri, and A. Rugun Sirait. 2025. “Articulating Dayak Indigeneity through Gendered Media, Youth Activism, and Global Connectivities.” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 181: 1–29. doi.org/10.1163/22134379-bja10070

Sirait, A. R. 2022. “Subjektivitas Imperfek: Perempuan Dalam ‘second account’ di Instagram.” Lembaran Antropologi 1 (1): 1–19. doi.org/10.22146/la.3486 (Imperfect Subjectivity: Women in Second Accounts on Instagram)

Sirait, A.R. 2021. “Spectatorial Sisterhood: Relasi Sosial Pengguna Second Account di Instagram.” Antropologi Indonesia 42 (1): Article 8. doi.org/10.7454/ai.v42i1.12417 (Spectatorial Sisterhood: the Social Relations of Second Account users on Instagram)