Nur Widiyanto, M.A, graduated from the Inter-Religious and Cultural Studies Department for his doctoral program and from the Department of Cultural Anthropology, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia, for his master's degree.

He has conducted a series of research focused on cultural studies and tourism in Southeast Asia as he worked in Sabah, Penang, and Langkawi in Malaysia and Bali, Yogyakarta West Java in Indonesia, and Phuket, Thailand.

Parts of his research findings have been presented at the international conference in Leiden, Seoul, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. Now, he is teaching Tourism Anthropology at Ambarrukmo Tourism Institute (STIPRAM) Yogyakarta while conducting a research project entitled The Role of Tourism in Developing Inter-Cultural Understanding between Japanese, Malaysian and Indonesian, funded by The Sumitomo Foundation, Japan.