IPR Associate Research Professor; Associate Professor of Instruction, School of Communication
PhD, Psychology, Utah State University, 2004
Contact: olga.kamenchuk@northwestern.edu
Olga Kamenchuk is a co-principal investigator of the Comparative National Elections Project for Russian, Ukrainian, and Serbian electoral studies. Prior to joining Northwestern University, she was co-director of the Eurasian Security & Governance Program at the Ohio State University Mershon Center for International Security Studies and associate professor (clinical) in the OSU School of Communication.
Having received her education in three different countries (Austria, Russia, and U.S.), Kamenchuk’s scholarship centers on the intersections of political psychology, public opinion, data science, and policy analysis across a range of international security and intercultural contexts, especially in the Eurasian region.
Her research has been published in Social Science Quarterly, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Social Media & Society, Hague Journal of Diplomacy, and various Russian academic outlets. Her interviews, comments, and publications appeared on CNN, ABC, CBC News, ZDF, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage, Forbes, Voice of America, Radio Liberty, DW (Deutsche Welle), etc. She is frequently invited to give talks at U.S. think tanks, including the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Annenberg Public Policy Center, USC Center for Public Diplomacy, and others. She has authored a number of reports and studies. See below for more.
She also has more than 20 years of extensive experience working with governmental agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and NGOs on a diverse range of communication, program evaluation, and public opinion projects across many different policy contexts. During her work in the research and communication industries, she conducted hundreds of opinion research projects for the World Bank, European Commission, United Nations, Cambridge University, University of Pennsylvania, U.S. Global Media Agency, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, and Asahi Shimbun.
Education
Post-Graduate Certificate (International Relations), Vienna Diplomatic Academy, Austria
PhD, Psychology (Intercultural Communication), Utah State University
MS, Psychology (Program Evaluation Methodology), Utah State University
MA, History (International Conflict), Ivanovo State University, Russia
Affiliations
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Communication & Public Policy (CCPP)
Non-Residential Faculty Affiliate, OSU Mershon Center for International Security Studies
Co-Principal Investigator, Comparative National Elections Project (CNEP)
Selected Academic Publications
Dal, A., E. Nisbet, and O. Kamenchuk. 2023. Signaling silence: Affective and cognitive responses to risks of online activism about corruption in an authoritarian context. New Media & Society. 25(3): 646–64.
Nisbet, E., and O. Kamenchuk. 2021. Russian news media, digital media, informational learned helplessness, and belief in COVID-19 misinformation. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 33(3): 571–90.
Hale, H., and O. Kamenchuk. 2020. Don’t call it a Cold War: Findings from the Russian-American Relations Survey 2019. The Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations.
Nisbet, E., and O. Kamenchuk. 2019. The psychology of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns and implications for the future of public diplomacy. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 14(1-2): 65–82.
Nisbet, E., O. Kamenchuk, and A. Dal. 2017. A psychological firewall? Risk perceptions and public support for online censorship in Russia. Social Science Quarterly 98(3): 958–75.
Selected Essays and Analysis
Hale, H., and O. Kamenchuk. 2020 (February 4).Why are Republicans using Putin’s talking points? This study helps explain. The Washington Post.
Nisbet, E., and O. Kamenchuk, O. 2019 (December 6). American influence could take the hit as Putin, Zelenskiy try to make peace in Ukraine. The Conversation.
Nisbet, E., and O. Kamenchuk. 2019 (November 12). What Ukrainians think about Trump and his ‘quid pro quo’ in 3 charts. The Conversation.
Nisbet, E., and O. Kamenchuk. 2018 (July 27). After summit Russians like Trump more, Americans less. The Conversation.