Carolyn Holmes joined the department as an assistant professor in fall 2023, also coming from a position at Mississippi State University. She completed her PhD in 2015 at Indiana University with concentrations in comparative politics, political philosophy, and African studies. Her research focuses on nationalism and political identities, and how they interface with democracy, with a particular interest in Southern Africa. 

Holmes has also been part of a team of researchers, funded by the American Political Science Association, that hosts workshops, roundtables, and pursues publications examining the role of descriptive research in political science.

Her first book, The Black and White Rainbow, was published in 2020. Her publications have appeared in African Affairs, Comparative Politics, PS: Political Science and Politics, Politics, Groups and Identities, and Nations and Nationalism, among other outlets.

Holmes enjoys teaching introductory courses in Comparative Politics, as well as upper division and graduate courses in Nationalism, African Politics, Democratization, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding.