Students

Current WEST students and featured alumni

Current Students & Recent Graduates

David Boyles

David did his undergraduate degree in French, International Studies, and Music at Ohio University. After graduating in 2007, he spent a year in Picardie, France, working as an English teacher. He is a Staff Sergeant in the US Army.

Julia Broadway

Julia Broadway comes from Marquette in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in English and spent her junior year studying abroad at the University of York in Great Britain. She was a 2009-2010 FLAS recipient in Italian, and her research interests include Muslim immigration in Western Europe, issues of national identity, and organized crime in Italy.

Jacob Clough

Jacob is from Indianapolis, Indiana. He did his undergraduate degree at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and has worked on a number of political campaigns and in the offices of elected officials. Jake is interested in security studies, military relations, economic development, and international business. He speaks French and Spanish.

Jason Dorick

Jason grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore and attended St. Mary's College of Maryland where he studied history, foreign languages, and cultural studies. After graduating in 2007 he spent a year as an Assistant de langue at Lycée la Briquere in Thionville, France and then worked at an international education management company in Baltimore. Jason is interested in European history and politics, language, urbanization and development, EU stabilization and expansion efforts in the Balkans, issues in higher education, and cultural studies.

Mary Hennessy

Mary earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. She studied abroad in Mannheim, Germany, in 2007 and in Sevilla, Spain, in 2009. She spent the 2010-2011 academic year in Aachen, Germany, teaching English on a Fulbright grant. Mary is interested in twentieth century European politics and culture, democratization, political extremism, and German-Turkish cinema.

Jeff Heerdink

Jeff earned his B.A. at Indiana University Bloomington. He studied abroad for two summers in South Korea, one summer in Austria, and one semester in Japan. Jeff also worked for one year as a peer counselor in Indiana University's Office of Overseas Studies. Jeff is interested in Turkish immigration to Austria and Germany and Turkish ascension to the European Union. Jeff hopes to work in study abroad after finishing at WEST.

Thomas Leonard

Thomas is originally from Dexter, Michigan, and graduated from Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, with a B.A. in French. He studied abroad in Tours, France, in 2008 and worked as a teaching assistant and summer camp director at Shu-Zen College of Medicine and Management in Lujhu, Taiwan, in 2006 and 2007. He spent 2009-2011 as a Community and Youth Education Peace Corps Volunteer in Larba Birno and Lido, Niger. Thomas is interested in West African immigration to The Netherlands and the exchange of ideas between the developed and developing world. He is currently learning Dutch.

Dustin Nicholas

Dustin is from Indiana and did his undergraduate degree at Indiana University with SPEA and the Kelley School of Business. The interdisciplinary WEST program allows him to study Portuguese language while pursuing research interests in Portugal and renewable energy. When he is not studying he enjoys brewing beer, sports, watching movies, and his favorite travel destination (thus far) is Costa Rica.

Kallan Picha

Kallan is originally from Colorado and completed her undergraduate degree at Hastings College in Nebraska. She received her BA in International Business and German in 2008 and studied abroad in Austria, Germany, and Northern Ireland during her undergraduate career. Her research interests include EU eastern enlargement and integration, European identity, and the German language. She is currently pursuing dual Master's degrees in West European Studies and Public Affairs/European Public Policy through the School of Public and Environmental Affairs here at IU.

Sonja Rother

Sonja Rother was born in Germany and raised in Luxembourg. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies in Italy, where she gained a Master in Translation and Conference Interpretation from the University of Trieste. She has always been interested in European languages and culture and is in her first year of the WEST program. Her main research interests are European history, languages, and German immigrants in the US.

Shanya Taylor

Shayna has a B.A. in International Relations and French from Middle Tennessee State University. Before starting at WEST, she worked for Medical Service Corporation International, an international development government contractor in Washington, DC. She hopes to work as a Foreign Service Officer or take part in the Presidential Management Fellows program after finishing at WEST.

Begum Tunakan

Begum comes from Istanbul, Turkey. She graduated from Sabanaci University, Turkey with a B.A. degree in Social and Political Science, studied abroad at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom as an exchange student and did an internship with the Foreign New Department of NTV News Channel, in Istanbul. Begum is interested in French political culture, European Politics and issues of European identity.

Luke Wood

Originally from Minneapolis, MN, Luke graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2006 with majors in Global Studies and Political Science.  Luke spent part of his undergraduate career in study at the University of Freiburg and European Union Center in Freiburg, Germany.  From 2006-2008 Luke continued to pursue coursework at the University of Minnesota and the University of Iceland, focusing on Scandinavian languages and history.  Luke's current research interests include European Union economic and political integration, European Union foreign policy integration, and securities studies.