Senny Suzanna Alwasilah may be studying at the IU School of Education as a visiting scholar with a Fulbright scholarship, but her connections to the school go back many years.

Alwasilah chose to return to the School of Education because of its leading performance in education – and because her late husband enjoyed studying here. Adeng Chaedar Alwasilah earned his master’s in 1985 and his Ph.D. in 1991 from the School of Education. His hard work paid off with a best dissertation award in 1991 and a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001. The couple’s first two daughters were born in Bloomington and even have Hoosier-inspired names: Indiana and Autumn.

Now Alwasilah, visiting from Indonesia, is here as part of her role as Dean of Faculty of Arts and Letters at Universitas Pasundan. While she’s studying within the Instructional Systems Technology department, Alwasilah hopes to broaden her knowledge and experience academically, get more insights on developing instructional courses, establish a more international English department and widen her academic network as a stepping stone to obtain a higher academic level, such as a professorship.

“I obtained my doctoral degree in curriculum; therefore, I would really love to learn how the curriculums or syllabi [are] being implemented in the classroom. I believe this would be beneficial for me to broaden my perspective on teaching practices,” Alwasilah said.

And she’s hoping to get to experience IU and Bloomington as a student, like her late husband did.