Prof. Volha Charnysh

Charnysh's research focuses on comparative politics and historical political economy. Her book project, Migration, Diversity, and Economic Development, 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. The book is based on Charnysh's Ph.D. dissertation, awarded the 2018 Ernst B. Haas Best Dissertation prize by the APSA European Politics and Society Section as well as the Best Dissertation Prize by the APSA Migration & Citizenship Section.

Professor Charnysh's other ongoing projects examine the politics of authoritarian regimes, the effects of wartime property transfers, and generational transmission of political attitudes and behavior. Regional focus is on Europe and Eurasia.

Charnysh's work combines statistical methods, including spatial and content analysis, with extensive field and archival research. It has appeared in American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, European Journal of International Relations. She has also contributed articles to Foreign Affairs, Monkey Cage at the Washington Post, National Interest, Transitions Online, Arms Control Today, Belarus Digest, and other media.