Ellie Burke

Ellie (she/her) is a senior history major in Silliman College from Kansas City, Missouri. Her research interests include studying the role of art and culture in social movements. Her thesis explored the impacts of the South African musical Sarafina! on anti-apartheid protest in the United States with advisor Professor Daniel Magaziner. As a Dahl Scholar, Ellie examined American foreign policy toward the South African apartheid regime from the late 1970s to the late 1990s. She is particularly interested in studying grassroots political protest in addition to more institutional actors like the United Nations or American politicians, taking a more expansive approach to public policy by questioning how citizen groups criticize and impact its creation.