This lecture will present a comparative approach in the study of nationalism. It will discuss the nature of the nation-state in the era of global connections. The perennial question of nationalism is how to decide who belongs to the nation and who does not.

Peter van der Veer is Director Emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Identity In Göttingen and University Professor Emeritus at Utrecht University. Currently he is a visiting scholar at Zhejiang University. He has published many books on the comparative study of Nationalism, including Imperial Encounters (Princeton), The Modern Spirit of Asia (Princeton), and The Value of Comparison (Duke).

Introduction by Tansen Sen, Professor of History, Director of the Center for Global Asia, NYU Shanghai.