Lea Marie Karpov

Lea Marie Karpov is a master’s student specializing in European Union Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She earned her B.A. in Political Science, with a minor in Legal Studies, also at UIUC, where she developed a strong interest in European politics and international relations. During her graduate studies, Lea has worked as a research assistant at the European Union Center and the International and Area Studies Library. She is currently interning at the European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS) in Brussels while pursuing her degree through an exchange she initiated with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Faculty of European Studies. Her research focuses on the rise of populist movements in the United States and the European Union, particularly their impact on democratic legitimacy and institutional trust.