by Laura Pochodylo '14

Knox College junior Joy Westerman recently studied abroad in Europe and returned to campus with new experiences, a new outlook, and even a publication credit. Westerman, a gender and women's studies major from Brooklyn, New York, is co-author of an article that will be included in an upcoming anthology about the theories of feminist scholar Rosi Braidotti. (Photo above: Joy Westerman with books related to her study-abroad research on gender and women's studies in several European countries.)

During fall 2013, Westerman participated in the Comparative Women's and Gender Studies in Europe program through Antioch University. She and other students in the program traveled to a variety of locations in Europe -- including Utrecht, The Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; and Krakow, Poland -- to explore issues in women's and gender studies.

"I wanted to see what feminism in Europe looked like, where it was going, and how it differed from feminism in the U.S.," Westerman said. "The program was very hands-on; our lecturers ranged from established gender studies theorists to on-the-ground feminist activists. I met the crucial players in European gender studies activism and research."

While abroad, specifically in Utrecht, Westerman pursued research that contributed to her paper.

The research, she said, "culminated in a manifesto about the usefulness of theories of nomadism to American students engaging in foreign feminisms."

"My professor loved what I wrote and reached out to me a month after the program ended."

Westerman and Kelsey Henry, a fellow program participant and a student at Wesleyan University, collaborated with their professor and program director Iveta Jusova to write their article, "Nomadic Encounters: Turning Difference Toward Dialogue."

The article will be published in a collection titled The Subject of Rosi Braidotti: Concepts and Politics, set to be published by Bloomsbury Academic Press in September.