Dr. Volha Charnysh

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Volha Charnysh is the Ford Career Development Associate Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, focusing on the intersections of identity, state-building, economic development, and the long-term effects of violence. Her regional expertise lies predominantly in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Her forthcoming book, 'Uprooted: Post-WWII Population Transfers Remade Europe' (2024, Cambridge University Press), delves into the lasting consequences of mass displacement and the resultant cultural heterogeneity on social cohesion and economic development in Poland and West Germany. Volha's scholarly work has been published in prestigious journals, including the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, and World Politics. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Historical Political Economy and has been recognized for her contributions to the field through various fellowships, including those at the Princeton Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance and Stanford University. Volha earned her PhD in Government from Harvard University in 2017, and her research interests encompass subjects such as legacies of violence, political behavior, and the political economy of migration.

Research Interests

Courses

17.506 Ethnic Politics 17.591 Research Seminar Applied International Studies 17.850 Scope Methods