Policy Lab: Nationalism(s)

(1 Credit Hour) · Undergraduate

We are in an age of growing and changing nationalisms in which our political discourses are redefining what the “nation” is, who belongs to it, who has rights in that nation, and what those rights are. This may be unfamiliar territory to many people, as we are all accustomed to a globalized world in which the nation has taken a second seat to international exchanges of all kinds. As we face new narratives of belonging and sovereignty, this policy lab will look backwards to understand what nationalism has been in the past, asking questions about how these ideas were communicated to a nation’s citizen, who was included and excluded in political discourses of the nation, and question whether the promises of nationalism(s) were ever fulfilled. In this five-week course, we will look at the origins of nationalism, and then work through case studies with a long-term view, such as French nationalism, postcolonial nation-building, Nazism, Italian nationalism from Unification to WWII, Kurdish nationalism and Turkey, and Christian Nationalism(s) including liberation theologies, among others. By the end of these six weeks, students will be able to identify and analyze nationalist public discourse, evaluate their claims, and understand how new nationalisms are seeking to engage or disengage with globalism.