Niklaus Steiner

I am a native of Thun, Switzerland, who moved to Chapel Hill NC with my family when my father became a professor at UNC. I had the good fortune of moving between cultures my whole life, and because of this experience, my teaching and research interests are around immigration, refugees, nationalism, and citizenship.

My new textbook, International Migration and Citizenship Today 2nd edition (Routledge, 2023), seeks to facilitate classroom discussions on admission and membership in liberal democracies.

I earned a bachelor’s degree with highest honors in international studies at UNC and a Ph.D. in political science at Northwestern University.

Before joining the political science department in 2020, I enjoyed 22 deeply gratifying years working at UNC’s Center for Global Initiatives, the last 15 as the director. I am especially proud of the work many colleagues from across campus and I did to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion into global education at Carolina.

When not at work, I am often cutting or replanting flowers in the garden, walking in the woods with my family, or making something up in the kitchen.