Skip to main content

School of Education Faculty Visit Assumption University to Collaborate in Global Disability Education

The SLU School of Education’s director of international programs Amrita Chaturvedi, Ph.D., and director of Catholic education and educational leadership programs John James, Ph.D., sought to expand a partnership with Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand, last month by visiting the university.

AU partnership

SLU faculty Amrita Chaturvedi, Ph.D. (second from left), and John James, Ph.D. (fourth from left), visit with Assumption University faculty and administrators and President Father Bancha Saenghiran, Ph.D.

School of Education leaders hope to collaborate on the two institutions’ shared Catholic identity to address disability education and special needs issues in Southeast Asia and around the world. The partnership, first forged in December 2015, will also seek to strengthen university-wide levels of expertise in all areas, as well as broaden affiliation with other Catholic universities and institutions in Asia and the United States.

In Bangkok, Chaturvedi and James met with President Father Bancha Saenghiran, Ph.D.; Glen Chatelier, Ph.D., director of international affairs; Sangob Laksana, dean of the Graduate School of Human Sciences; and other faculty members. The trip was coordinated by Tanyathorn Hauwadhanasuk, a graduate assistant and doctoral student in the School of Education and an alumna of Assumption University. This visit led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

Another significant outcome was the establishment of the International Catholic Educational Conference that SLU will co-host with Assumption University, which will take place Aug. 24-26, 2017. The conference will focus on how Catholic education can address special education needs in the Southeast Asia region, and will feature a keynote speaker from the Vatican.

“We are excited about the successful collaboration with Assumption University,” said School of Education’s interim dean Ann Rule, Ph.D. “We are both Catholic educational institutions that hold the same missions and values in widening educational opportunities to others, which will make our collaboration possible.”