A brash politician tells voters they’ve been sidelined by special interests, casting himself as a strongman who can solve the nation’s ills. He attacks urban elites and appeals to rural residents who feel left behind, claiming he will fix what ails their communities and restore national greatness.
That’s the case study Keough School professor Rose Luminiello and her students have gathered to discuss in their policy lab on the ideas, ideologies and realities of nationalism. They’re analyzing how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán led his party to power in 2010 by using a selective vision of national identity that marginalizes those outside it.
At a time when nationalism is having a global resurgence, the class offers an opportunity to examine what it promises and how it persuades — and what that means for who belongs, who is excluded and what policy looks like. Luminiello leads students to synthesize the readings and articulate what Orbán’s example reveals about this broader trend and how it might shape the future.
“Nationalism has been on the rise in recent years and from a historian’s perspective, you can’t understand what’s happening now or why it matters without understanding what has come before,” says Luminiello, whose work focuses on Catholic social teaching, religion, political resistance and identity-building. “In this class, I help students examine how nationalism connects with topics including immigration, religion, gender and pop culture.”
Students say this approach helps them connect historical context to contemporary policy questions. Agustina Galantini, a master of global affairs student from Argentina, appreciates the opportunity to learn how history shapes policy today.
“Professor Luminiello gives us the grace to learn the history we don’t know, while at the same time asking us engaging questions that prompt us to think about the future, including policy options,” Galantini says. “As a global affairs student, that’s very important to me.”
Jun Wei Lee, a senior from Singapore majoring in history and philosophy, says the course has clarified how narratives shape political outcomes.
“It’s been eye-opening to see how nationalist politics are linked to broader narratives about national identity, specifically rhetoric about who gets to belong and who is excluded from the nation,” Lee says. “Coming from a history background, I’ve appreciated how Professor Luminiello grounds present nationalist policies in a country’s past. I also enjoy how the class zooms out to capture broader global trends.”
For Ally Brown, a sophomore from New Hampshire majoring in global affairs and business, the mix of students has helped to deepen classroom conversations.
“I think that the balance of undergrads and grad students has facilitated really interesting discussions,” Brown says. “Hearing perspectives from classmates with different nationalities and backgrounds has helped me better analyze these issues.”
Luminiello says this dialogue is central to the course, which is about encouraging active learning among globally engaged students. By engaging with different national contexts and perspectives, participants build their own understanding of nationalism and how it shapes public conversations today.
“I’m fortunate to have such an engaged group of students,” Luminiello says. “They really dive deep into the readings, which allows us to have substantive discussions that explore what these global trends mean and how they shape the societies in which students will work and live.”