Education:
M.A. Candidate in European Studies and Environmental Humanities; University of Virginia (2026)
B.A. with Highest Distinction in German and Foreign Affairs, Minor in History; University of Virginia (2025) 
 

Brendan is a graduate student at the University of Virginia in the European Studies M.A. program, also seeking a graduate certificate in Environmental Humanities. During undergrad at UVA, he double majored in German and Foreign Affairs with a minor in History. For his undergraduate Distinguished Majors Thesis in German Studies, he researched the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party and their campaigns. He is most interested in far-right nationalism, genocide studies, and memory politics. With plans to travel to Freiburg, Germany in Fall 2025, he wants to compare the institutionalized German and Dutch far-right parties and their uses of memory politics in campaign messaging for his M.A. thesis.