Nationalism(s): Ideology, Identity, and Reality

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Humans are social creatures, dwelling in “imagined communities” of various forms across the world. Since the French Revolution, philosophers, politicians, and the politics of the masses have increasingly chosen “the nation” as the form their communities take. But what is nationalism? What is the nation-state? As the ideology behind many democracies, nationalism has waxed and waned in popularity at various times; for example, it reached new heights in mid-nineteenth century Italy, with Woodrow Wilson’s conceptualization of self-determination (1918), in Nazi Germany, and in our own contemporary political arena. The concept of the nation appears ever popular, yet its form and meaning shift over time and geographically. This course explores what nationalism is and to whom, moving from the French Revolution to contemporary politics, asking students fundamental questions about the relationship between citizens, democracy, governance, and the rule of law. The course will also challenge students to explore fundamental questions about identity, belonging, and the power of nationalism as an ideology in creating politically-motivated communities, sometimes in cooperation with other ideologies, such as religions. While the course approaches these topics first from a history of ideas and political philosophy approach, the ideas will meet the masses in global case studies that reveal the reality of nationalism as lived by citizens across time and place. Students will explore these questions primarily through reading-based seminar discussions, and their own writing and research to meet in three interdisciplinary ways of knowing: political philosophy, writing, and historical inquiry.