Welcome!

I am an Assistant Professor at IE University in Madrid. I received my Ph.D. from the Center for Doctoral Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Mannheim in 2022. During my studies, I was a visiting PhD student at UC Berkeley and a pre-doctoral fellow at CESS-Nuffield Flame University in Pune. I hold a master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Mannheim and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Barcelona.

I conduct research in comparative politics and political psychology, with a regional focus on India. My primary research agenda explores themes of nationalism, ethnicity, and social identity, with particular interest in how symbols and narratives of nationhood shape political behavior among both dominant and marginalized groups. I am especially interested in how public narratives—reflected in textbooks, street names, and national symbols—affect both ethnic minorities’ sense of national belonging and how others perceive their belonging and legitimacy within the nation. I ask questions such as: How do symbolic changes in the public sphere influence the inclusion or exclusion of certain groups from the imagined national community? And to what extent does a group’s perceived centrality to the nation shape its members’ ability to speak and be heard in public discourse? To answer these questions, I employ a range of causal research designs, including surveys, laboratory experiments, and natural experiments.

My work is published at the American Political Science Review, the British Journal of Political Science, Electoral Studies and the Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy among others.