welcome!

HELLO! 

My name is Yunus Emre Orhan. I am NSF-Funded Postdoctoral Fellow at Digital Society Project, co-director (w/ James Adams - UC Davis) of the Global Polarization Network, and a team member of the Connect Elicit Learn Lab. Starting Fall 2025, I will be a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Politics and Public Affairs Department at Denison University. I received my Ph.D. in political science from UW Milwaukee Political Science Department. 

I am a political scientist comparatively studying authoritarian politics, with a substantive focus on affective polarization and democratic backsliding, and a methodological focus on computational and experimental analyses. My research and/or writing has appeared in diverse outlets, including The Washington Post and peer-reviewed Democratization, Computation, and Ethnopolitics. Outlets such as POTUS Radio's The Trendline, Medium, and The Atlantic have covered my research. 

My teaching bridges insights from international relations and comparative politics, engaging with literature on democracy, public policy, political behavior, social movements, cybersecurity, and political economy. Outside of work, you’ll usually find me reading, inventing games with my daughter, camping with my family and friends, or deep in conversation during a good hike.