My name is William Harkleroad, a student of political science currently at the University of Kansas.

I have always been drawn to the way politics, place, and people shape one another. Whether I am following an election, driving across the country, studying abroad, or photographing a landscape that feels completely different from the one I left behind, I am usually thinking about the same question: why does a place become what it is? That curiosity has taken me from small towns and state capitals to cities overseas, and it continues to shape how I study politics and understand the world around me.

You will not find this site focused on politics alone, nor will it be a simple travel diary or photography portfolio. Instead, I write about the intersections between government, history, geography, culture, and everyday life. Sometimes that means examining a political institution or election. Other times it means reflecting on a road trip, a city, a photograph, or an experience abroad that changed the way I saw something familiar.

This is ultimately a place to document what I see, what I learn, and how my perspective changes along the way. I hope the writing and photography here encourage you to look a little more closely at the places around you, the systems that shape them, and the people who call them home.

willnationwillhark@gmail.com