Section Info: POLIT-387ND-01

Course Title: Advanced Topics in Politics: 'Nationalism and Democratic Erosion'
Start Date: 09/09/2026 End Date: 12/22/2026
Term: Fall Semester 2026
Description: The academic study of nationalism owes much to Benedict Anderson's conception of Imagined Communities. However, scholars should always remember that those social constructs impact the lived experiences of the people within them, especially when multiple conceptions of nationhood compete. This course examines what happens when competing visions of the American nation clash and traditionally dominant perspectives work to exclude traditionally marginalized communities from the political arena. When this happens, democratic norms and principles find themselves in the crosshairs. In this course, we will investigate the origins and spread of nationalism; the theory and practice of national mythologies; the theory and practice of democracy; and how these concepts operate in the United States. Critically, we will investigate how traditionally hegemonic communities leverage their conceptions of nationalism to erode democracy for individuals who do not fit into their idealized, exclusionary American nation.
Distribution(s): III - Social Sciences , SI - Speaking-Intensive , WI - Writing-Intensive , TP - Topics Course
Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate     Credits:4.00    

Faculty         Phone         Email address        
Ana Abraham             anastasjaabr@mtholyoke.edu  

Meeting Dates         Method         Meeting days         Meeting times         Building name         Room     Frequency    
09/09/2026 - 12/22/2026   Seminar   Tuesday   01:30PM - 04:20PM   TBA   TBA   Weekly

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Requisite Courses        
Prereq: 8 credits in the department. Take previously   Required  

Comments        
Additional Comments        
Course Tags        
POLIT-AMER   POLIT-AMER: Politics - American subfield   This course has been approved to count towards the American Politics subfield of the Politics major (100-200-level courses only) and minor (all courses).  

Cross-listed Sections        
None  

Course Availability
Section status: Waitlisted     Capacity: 18     Enrollment: 17     Available: 0     Waitlist: 1
Please note: The "Available" count will equal 0 in a Waitlisted course where spaces in the course have recently opened and students have not yet been moved into them from the waitlist.

BOOK INFORMATION

Book List         Required         Publisher Full Price        
To be determined.                    

Additional Book Comments        
This is NOT the complete book list for this class.