< Jusová, professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program in Europe, may be new to our institution this term, but she is far from inexperienced in her subject matter. She taught at Antioch College in Ohio for twelve years, taking students abroad each fall in a program now offered at Carleton.
The Carleton-Antioch Global Engagement Program, called Women’s and Gender Studies in Europe, goes to places like the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland.
“The program’s purpose is to get students to compare a situation or topic in three different places and to understand how it functions in those locations,” said Jusová.
The program is the main reason for her transition to Carleton because the College recently partnered with Antioch to run the program.
Raised under socialist rule, Jusová’s exposure to feminist thinking was minimal until college.
“One of the reasons I am so interested in feminism is that I was raised under socialism in Czechoslovakia, which meant no exposure to feminist thought, until I became an English major which gave me access to feminist writings,” said Jusová.
“Then, everything clicked, everything started making sense. I began to view the world through a feminist lens. That, combined with a Marxist and a postcolonial overall frame helped me to make sense of my world.”
Jusová’s passion for her work is clear when talking to her. When asked what she does for fun, there was not a large a divide between work and leisure in her interests. It seems that the two are one and the same. “I read some fiction, but mostly I like postcolonial feminist texts,” Jusová said.
Jusová is currently between writing works, having just finished pieces concerning late 19th century female British writers and their role in reinforcing colonial ideology. In addition , she wrote two chapters in Czech Feminisms: Perspectives on Gender in East Central Europe through Indiana University Press. Currently, she has a few other project ideas pending.
“I am thinking about writing vignettes based on my childhood growing up in East Europe because the social representation in the United States doesn’t correlate to my experience there,” said Jusová. It’s clear that her main passion is the work that she does, which bodes well for her presence and position at Carleton.
Jusová’s experience teaching at Carleton has been a positive one so far. “I absolutely love it. I learn a lot. It’s selfish really, why I love it, but it pushes me to grow. My research keeps me connected, I get to share it in class with my students, which is an absolute pleasure because they are so curious to know. I just love seeing all their faces looking at me. They all have such different perspectives and different questions to share.”