Sonam Kotadia 

Spending a year in Vienna pushed me to grow immensely. I took the majority of my coursework in German, which – with the help of Dr. Murray and Dr. Pfefferle – allowed me to become nearly fluent. I soaked in the culture of the city as much as I could, spending much of my time in museums and at the opera. I also volunteered actively with refugee aid organizations. The first large group of refugees arrived only a few months after I did in 2015. Watching the Austrian far-right populist party quickly rise in popularity in response unsettled me. In hopes of better understanding this trend, I began researching populism and elections, topics which have since fascinated me.

Living in Vienna inspired me to pursue my master’s degree abroad at Sciences Po Paris, where I studied International Security and continued to focus on populism and electoral behavior. After graduating, I moved back to the US in order to work on the 2020 election, first as a fellow and consultant at the UC Berkeley Othering and Belonging Institute and currently as an Account Executive at Catalist, a progressive political data company. Without having studied in Vienna, I wouldn’t have found my passion for elections and civic engagement.