Santy Kouwagam is a researcher at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society (VVI), and Coordinator of Indonesia-related projects, assisting Prof. Adriaan Bedner. In this role, she supports the Institute's efforts to strengthen research and collaboration on Indonesia's socio-legal developments, facilitating partnerships and knowledge exchange between scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

Trained as both a practitioner and scholar, Santy brings deep expertise in Indonesian law and a comparative perspective spanning English, German, French, American, and Singaporean legal systems. She is especially interested in how legal systems respond to social vulnerability and shifting patterns of care, and in the role of legal strategy in navigating institutional complexity.

Santy’s teaching experience includes Comparative European Tort Law and Principles of European Contract Law (University of Amsterdam), Principles of Private Law (University College Roosevelt) and Hukum Perikatan (Universitas Hasanuddin). Her pedagogy integrates comparative theory with real-world legal insight, informed by her earlier career in private practice.

Prior to her academic career, Santy practiced at a top-tier commercial law firm in Jakarta, advising on cross-border disputes and transactions. She holds a law degree from Universitas Hasanuddin (Indonesia) and an LL.M. (cum laude) in International and Comparative Law from the University of Pittsburgh. In the US., she is certified by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to provide legal services and has represented indigent clients in family law proceedings. She also volunteered with the Allegheny County Office of the Public Defender and a nonprofit supporting refugees and asylum seekers.

In 2019, she founded Stichting Socio-Legal Consulting, a nonprofit that provides legal assistance in family, inheritance, and housing matters for clients with ties to Indonesia.

Across her work, Santy is committed to linking academic research with practice, and to advancing inclusive, context-sensitive approaches to law and justice in plural and transnational environments.

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