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Political Science - Faculty & Staff

Ethan Hollander

  • Associate Professor of Political Science

Photo of Hollander, Ethan


I’m an Associate Professor of Political Science at Wabash College and creator of "Democracy and Its Alternatives", now available on Wondrium (formerly known as the Great Courses). 

"Democracy and Its Alternatives" is a 24-lecture series on the future of democracy, not just in the US, but globally. It addresses questions like: Does democracy have a future? What's causing it to falter? And is there anything we can do about it?

To watch the trailer or stream the course, go to Wondrium. Get the DVD and guidebook (or to download them electronically) at The Great Courses. The course is also available at a number of 3rd party sites, like Audible or Amazon.

I'm also the author of Hegemony and the Holocaust: State Power and Jewish Survival in Occupied Europe (published by Palgrave MacMillan Press, 2017) and a number of scholarly articles on topics ranging from demoratization and authoritarian regimes to the politics of organ transplant. 

I love my job, this college, and its community because it gives me the ability to teach and learn from the most engaged students an educator could hope for, to ask questions about important and fascinating social and political phenomena, and to be a part of a dynamic and supportive community.

In both my teaching and my scholarly research, I hope to bridge academic disciplines in an effort to better understand the world in which we live. My teaching portfolio includes such varied courses as Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict; European Politics; Politics of the Middle East; Cuban Politics and Culture; Political Development; Voting and Electoral Systems; The Holocaust and Genocide; and Research Methods and Statistics. I also enjoy sharing the process of original scholarly research with my students, and have worked with students on topics such as the politics of warfare, European Union immigration policy, South African electoral reform, and Vietnam War photography, just to name a few. Part of the beauty of working in a small college is the opportunity to share the learning process with my students who, in turn, teach me more than I could learn on my own.

Finally, this community allows me to pursue my non-academic interests, which include hiking, pottery, and making good food. I also serve on the Crawfordsville City Council as a representative of Ward 2. 


Education

Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2006
M.A., University of California, San Diego, 1999
B.A. (with 正规赌钱软件app Honors), 正规赌钱软件appsleyan University, 1994


Recent Course Offerings

Introduction to Comparative Politics

Politics of the Middle East

Politics of the European Union

Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict

Voting and Electoral Systems

Research Methods and Statistics.

Dr. Hollander also led an immersion trip to Havana and Miami as part of a course on Cuban Politics and Culture.


Recent Presentations

Dr. Hollander is the creator of "Democracy and Its Alternatives" a 24-lecture series published by Wondrium (formerly known as The Great Courses).


Recent Publications

  • "Democracy and Its Alternatives" A 24-lecture series on the future of democracy, available on WondriumThe Great Courses; or a variety of 3rd party sites, like Audible or Amazon.
  • Hegemony and the Holocaust: State Power and Jewish Survival in Occupied Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
  • “The Boy in the Bubble and the Baby with the Berlin Heart: The Dangers of ‘Bridge to Decision’ in Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support.” With Seth A. Hollander. ASAIO Journal, Volume 64: Issue 6 (November/December 2018).
  • “Explaining the Intensity of the Arab Spring.” Digest of Middle East Studies. Vol. 24: No. 1 (Spring 2015): pp. 26-46. Co-authored with Chonghyun “Christie” Byun.
  • “International Hierarchy and the Final Solution.” In Global Perspectives on the Holocaust: History, Identity and Legacy. (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015): 136-159.
  • “U.S. Patronage and the Unlikely Dynamics of Democratization in the Middle East” (Book Review of Amaney A. Jamal’s Of Empires and Citizens: Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy at All?) The Journal of Politics. (October 2013).
  • “The Banality of Goodness: Collaboration and Compromise in the Rescue of Denmark’s Jews.” In The Journal of Jewish Identities. Vol. 6: No. 2 (July 2013): 41-66.
  • “Puerto Sagua: Door to Cuba’s Past” (Reflective essay.) Wabash Magazine: The Journal of Wabash College. (Winter 2013): pp. 91-92.
  • “Democratic Transition and Electoral Choice: The Legacy of One-Party Rule in Hungry and Poland.” Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences. Vol. 16: No. 1 (Fall/Winter 2013): 87-102.
  • “The Bystander in Holocaust History and Education.” In Forum 21: European Journal on Child and Youth Research. No. 7 (forthcoming, June 2011)
  • Hegemony and the Holocaust: State Power and Jewish Survival in Occupied Europe.

Note: This is a selected list. For a full list, email me at hollande@wabash.edu.

 

Honors & Awards

In 2015, I won the McLain-McTurnan-Arnold Research Scholar Award. I was also a Fellow at the Holocaust Education Foundation's Summer Workshop at Northwestern Univeristy in the summer of 2015.


Podcasts and Presentations

All About Skills. Hollander discusses his new Wondrium course and the future of democracy with Charlie Jett.

The Story Collider. Good and Evil: Stories about the Science of the Gray Areas. Hollander talks about doing research in Germany and his interview with convicted war criminal.

Florida International University's Tuesday Times Roundtable. Hollander presents "Jewish Survival and the Holocaust" (a lecture based on his book).

Wabash on My Mind. Hollander talks about his book, teaching at Wabash, the benefits of immersion experiences for students, and how his personal travels have influenced him.

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