Jon Berndt Olsen
Western Civilization Post-Doctoral Fellow
Olsen received his B.A. in History, German, and Russian-Soviet Studies from St. Olaf College in 1993 and an M.A. in German and European Studies from Georgetown University in 1997. After his time at Georgetown, he received a Robert Bosch Fellowship and was able to work for a member of the German Parliament and for the House of History (one of Germany’s national history museums). Upon returning to the United States, Olsen earned a Ph.D. in German History from the University of North Carolina in 2004. He is currently revising his book manuscript, entitled “Tailoring Truth: Memory Culture and State Legitimacy in East Germany.”