Volha Charnysh

Guest Speaker

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Charnysh’s research focuses on historical political economy, legacies of violence, nation- and state-building, and ethnic politics. Her book project examines the long-run effects of forced migration in the aftermath of World War II in Eastern Europe, synthesizing several decades of micro-level data collected during a year of fieldwork in Poland, funded by the Social Science Research Council and Center for European Studies

Dr. Charnysh’s work has appeared in the American Political Science ReviewComparative Political Studiesand the European Journal of International RelationsHer dissertation won the 2018 Ernst B. Haas Best Dissertation prize, awarded by the European Politics and Society Section of the American Political Science Association, as well as the Best Dissertation Prize, awarded by the Migration & Citizenship Section. Dr. Charnysh has also contributed articles to Foreign AffairsMonkey Cage at the Washington Post, National InterestTransitions OnlineArms Control TodayBelarus Digest, and other media.