Erica Stefano

Erica Stefano is an M.A. candidate in Regional Studies: Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe at the Harriman Institute. Erica earned her B.A in Honors Political Science from McGill University in Canada, with minor concentrations in History and Russian language. Before arriving at Columbia, she interned at Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, researching issues of the suppression of free media and violence against journalists. Currently, at Harriman she focuses on contemporary politics in Russia, including independent media, regime legitimacy, civil society, and misinformation. Her upcoming thesis is on the topic of trolls and how the Russian state subverts oppositional discourse online.