Over the July 4th weekend the Washington Post published my review of musicologist Mark Clague’s new book, O Say Can You Hear?: A Cultural Biography of The Star Spangled Banner, a book… Read more »
Article Topic: nationalism
Presenting at Cornell IOPGA’s Summit on Democracy, NYC, May 24
This coming Tuesday, Cornell’s Institute of Politics and Global Affairs in New York City is bringing together an array of prominent experts — including Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and… Read more »
Reviewing Yascha Mounk’s “Great Experiment” in Washington Monthly
The world’s ongoing slide into authoritarianism has generated a frantic effort among political scientists, historians, and national security experts to identify the causes and possible solutions. University of Chicago law… Read more »
Speaking on Union and the struggle to forge a story of U.S. nationhood in Newport, R.I, April 21
On April 21 at 7pm I’ll be speaking on my most recent book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood, and the battle between civic and… Read more »
Russians are in a disinfo bubble and most don’t want friends and family in Maine popping it
Since Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine commenced in late February, opposition media and protests have been shut down and the country’s citizens have been living in a propaganda bubble that… Read more »
Joining the Pell Center
In personal news, as they say, I was recently named a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, a think tank at Salve Regina… Read more »
Talking Union and America’s search for national identity with PBS’ “Story in the Public Square”
Maintaining a shared sense of nationhood has always been a special challenge for the United States, arguably the world’s first civic nation, one defined not by organic ties, but by… Read more »
Talking Union in Camden, Maine, July 6
I’ll be speaking on my most recent book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the story of United States Nationhood at the Camden Amphitheater in Camden, Maine on July 6 at 6pm…. Read more »
Union paperback launch event, June 17, Portland, ME
The pandemic forced the cancellation of the book tour for my most recent book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the story of United States Nationhood, but with restrictions lifted across New… Read more »
United States’ myth of nationhood is all-important, but it carries a curse
The United States needs its national myth of shared nationhood more than most countries because it’s almost the only thing that has held our rival regional cultures together. But,… Read more »
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist. He is the author of six books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2016. He is a contributing editor at POLITICO and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.