Cassidy Whaley

Cassidy Whaley is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania from Wyoming, Delaware, studying Communication with a concentration in Politics and Policy.

This fall, she will join the Programme in European Culture & Society (PECS) at KU Leuven in Belgium.

In Leuven, Cassidy will study how media systems and political institutions shape public opinion in the Low Countries. She is interested in how media regulation shapes speech and content across borders as global platforms adopt unified standards for moderation and compliance, and how these dynamics play out at both national and supranational levels in Europe and the United States.

She also looks forward to learning Dutch to communicate with locals in Flanders and follow Flemish media more closely.

Outside of the classroom, Cassidy is excited to take advantage of Belgium’s extensive cycling infrastructure and walkable cities. She is looking forward to visiting Bruges and Ghent, spending time at World War I sites across Belgium and northern France, and exploring smaller towns throughout the Low Countries.

She also plans to visit Utrecht in the Netherlands and, of course, drop by the Miffy traffic light at the Lange Viestraat/Vredenburg intersection.

This fall, she is looking forward to:

•  Meeting fellow PECS students
• Comparing Flemish and Dutch usage across Belgium and the Netherlands
• Exploring Belgium and the Low Countries on foot and by bike
• Visiting Arenberg Castle in Heverlee, a Flemish Renaissance-style château now part of KU Leuven