Prof. Dr. Lien Verpoest is an Associate Professor at the research group on Modernity and Society in the History Department of the Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven. She obtained her PhD in Political Science in 2008. She is programme director of the Master of European Studies: Transnational and Global Perspectives (2025-2029). Her research is situated on the tangent between history and political science, with a focus on comparative historical analysis and foreign policy analysis. The main research focus lies on the East Slavic region, more in specific diplomatic relations and the role of liminal cultural and heritage actors in East-West diplomacy.