Hi everyone! My name is Dian Yu, and I’m from Houston, Texas. I am a senior in Pforzheimer House concentrating in Government (Law & Justice curricular program) and Economics, with a secondary in Theatre, Dance, & Media. I’m thrilled to be a PCC again this academic year and serve as a resource as you navigate the Gov concentration and beyond.
I am very passionate about learning how political and legal systems can be more responsive to the communities they serve in creating meaningful change. My Gov interests include exploring how diasporic communities make sense of and engage in politics, as well as how the law and policy interact to influence inequality. Being able to explore these broad interests through so many different lenses (quantitatively/qualitatively and in the US/comparatively) in the Government department is what makes me love this concentration so much. Some of my favorite classes I’ve taken in Gov include Professor Holland’s GOV1114: Law and Inequality, Professor Ternullo’s GOV94: Politics of Place, and my sophomore tutorial on social influences on political behavior.
Outside of academics, I am on the Harvard Crimson Dance Team, a competitive dance team that represents Harvard at the College Dance Team National and Regional Championships and performs at home football and basketball games. Furthermore, I love teaching US government and civics curriculum to 5th graders in Boston & Cambridge public schools as part of the CIVICS program, where we also host speaker events at HKS on educational policy. In my free time, I enjoy doing lagree pilates, baking Asian-French fusion desserts, and playing pickleball. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can be helpful in any way—including any questions regarding choosing a concentration, courses, research, public policy/local government work, etc.