Joseph Piver

Joseph Piver is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of Kansas specializing in Comparative Politics and American Politics, with a regional focus on Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. His research examines identity politics, religion and politics, nationalism, and democratic backsliding, with particular attention to the political role and mobilization of Orthodox Christianity. 

Joseph has received multiple Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships to study BCMS and has conducted fieldwork and language study in Montenegro in collaboration with the University of Donja Gorica. His broader work examines the relationship between political identity, religion, and democratic development in post-communist Europe. He is also interested in strengthening academic and educational connections between the United States and Southeastern Europe.