Natalie Miller: KU alumna's study of extremism inspires her to pursue graduate program in Germany

For Natalie Miller the seeds of her thesis began to germinate while standing in Berlin’s DDR Museum, which depicts life in former East Germany with displays of covert listening devices, clothing and recreated tower block apartments.

Miller was abroad with KU’s Summer Language Institute in Holzkirchen, Germany. The group had already visited Sachsenhausen, a major Nazi Germany concentration camp just north of Berlin; and the site of a former political prison run by the East German Communist Ministry of State Security. As a political science and German major, Miller stood in the museum trying to connect what she was seeing with what she had learned about the current far-right Alternative for Germany political party.

“I just couldn’t fathom how all of this could have happened,” Miller said. “How could this have happened, and we are seeing a resurgence in right-wing extremism in Europe today?”

That was the question that carried Miller through two bachelor’s degree theses, one in political science and the other in German. And it will be the one that she will take with her as she enters a master’s degree program at the University of Regensburg this fall.

“I realized how much I could talk about European politics, German politics, extremism and polarization that I think I want to, at least in the latter half of my life, be a professor and teach these things,” Miller said.

From Olathe and the granddaughter of German immigrants, Miller, who graduated in 2023, has always had an interest in Germany.

Miller began her college education at Fort Hays State. While there, she found work at the Hays Regional Airport, where she did everything from pulling bags out of cargo holds to directing planes to their gates.

The job came with the perk of air travel, so Miller visited Germany several times. After her second year at Fort Hays, she decided to transfer to KU with one of the reasons being a desire to pursue German. She also joined the Kansas Rowing team.

After her summer with the Holzkirchen program, Miller knew she wanted to return to Germany to study full time.So, she spent the spring of her fifth year at the University of Regensburg, which has a deep and longstanding partnership with KU.

To support her semester abroad, Miller received a Collins Scholarship as well as the Lynne Hinkel Lipsey Memorial Travel Fund.

“The funding made the experience possible for me,” Miller said. “It was a dream, and the support made it a reality.”

While there, Miller formed a close-knit friend group with other exchange students from around the world. They learned how to open German bank accounts together, traveled throughout Germany and before her return they even celebrated Fourth of July with watermelon and hotdogs along the Danube River.

“I’m going to look back on those memories for the rest of my life,” Miller said.

When Miller returned from Germany energized and ready to pursue a master’s degree, she was advised to take a break and gain some work experience before returning to school. Putting her political science degree to use, she interned for Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids, working in the district office that fall. With a little real world political experience, Miller decided she was ready to apply for jobs in Washington, D.C.

In February, she began working in the office of Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams. As a scheduler, Miller arranged everything from dentist appointments to meetings with the vice president.

This summer, Miller took what she had learned on Capitol Hill, along with a bolstered resume and refined interview skills, and applied to the University of Regensburg. She was drawn to its graduate school for its mostly free tuition, programs taught in English, high quality of life and the possibility of working in Germany after graduation.

This fall she’ll begin a two-year program in European studies with an emphasis in politics, culture and law. Among the list of potential thesis topics is extremism in Europe.

“I knew I could definitely take that and run with it,” Miller said.