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headshot of Donald G. Nieman

Donald G. Nieman

Professor

History

Background

Donald G. Nieman is an authority on modern U.S. law and politics, and professor of history and provost emeritus at ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ — State University of New York. 

His latest book, The Path to Paralysis: How Our Politics Became Nasty, Dysfunctional, and a Threat to the Republic, will be published by Anthem Press in October 2024. It offers the first comprehensive analysis of how we became so polarized and why there's no easy way out of the current crisis. 

He is the author and editor of many other books, including Promises to Keep: African Americans and the Constitutional Order, 1776-Present, an influential history of civil rights in the U.S. His op-eds on contemporary American politics have appeared in the Washington Post, Newsweek, Huffington Post and Salon, to name a few. His research has been supported by fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and New York University School of Law.

Education

  • PhD, Rice University

Research Interests

  • History of civil rights
  • Reconstruction
  • The U.S. Since the 1960s

Teaching Interests

  • U.S. Legal History
  • Civil War and Reconstruction
  • Civil Rights
  • Modern U.S. History