Holly Harris

Holly Harris's picture

Holly Harris, originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, is a second year master’s student in European and Russian Studies. Her primary research interest is nationalism and the role it plays in decision-making in the European Union. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame in May 2020. Her undergraduate senior thesis used four countries (Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, and Spain) as case studies to explore the role of capital, immigration, and political influence in forming public attitudes towards the EU surrounding the 2015 refugee crisis.

Outside of the classroom, Harris has had numerous experiences studying and working internationally in Germany, Spain, Mexico, and Belgium. She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish and French and reads and writes Portuguese.

At Yale, she has focused her studies on policy-making, European politics, and the EU as an institution. Her coursework has included topics such as theories of nationalism, the economics and politics of migration, decolonization, the EU policy process, and U.S.-Russian relations. Her master’s thesis uses Germany and Poland as case studies to examine the ways in which national political culture and nationalist interests affected EU policy responses during the 2015 refugee crisis. After she graduates from Yale, she intends to pursue a doctorate in political science.

Department: 
2nd Year, European & Russian Studies
Fields of Interest: 
Concentration: Western and Central Europe
Geography Focus: 
Western Europe
Thematic Focus: 
European Union
Political Science
Public Policy
Period Focus: 
Recent