Nationhood Lab

·February 13, 2023·7 min read

The 2022 Midterms and the American Nations: regional differences trump rural/urban divide most everywhere, with a couple of important exceptions

Centuries-old settlement geography can still be contemporary elections, accounting for tectonic divisions within key states. In statewide races, Democrats often lost urban counties in the resultant “red” regional cultures and won the rural ones in “blue” regions.

Colin Woodard·

Featured In the News

·January 30, 2023·1 min read

How America’s Frontier myth got its start and quickly lost the faith of its own author

In Smithsonian Magazine, Nationhood Lab Director Colin Woodard shares the backstory of one of the United States's misguided national origin stories. Frederick Jackson Turner's massively influential and deeply flawed Frontier Thesis, which dominated the teaching and public understanding of American history for half a century after it was first presented at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, was a cul-de-sac of nationhood building

Colin Woodard·

Updates

·January 30, 2023·3 min read

Woodard Speaks at French Embassy In Washington

January 30, 2023 WASHINGTON – The director of Pell Center’s new Nationhood Lab project addressed the annual meeting of France’s...

Colin Woodard·

Updates

·January 4, 2023·2 min read

Best-Selling Author Colin Woodard to Lead Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center

January 4, 2023 NEWPORT, RI—Colin Woodard, a New York Times best-selling historian and Polk Award-winning journalist, will lead the newly...

Colin Woodard·

Updates

·November 17, 2022·1 min read

Woodard Speaks at State of the Unions conference in Brussels

November 17, 2022 BRUSSELS – Pell Center visiting senior fellow Colin Woodard Nov. 16 addressed the State of the Unions...

Colin Woodard·

Data Journalism

·November 7, 2022·7 min read

The American Nations and the Geography of Covid-19 Vaccinations

U.S. Covid-19 vaccination rates are heavily influenced by the legacy of centuries-old colonization patterns. Value differences between the regional cultures created by these rival colonization campaigns shape the behavior of elected officials and the general public.

Colin Woodard·

Featured In the News

·August 19, 2022·1 min read

The United States of New England?

In the Boston Globe, Pell Center senior fellow Colin Woodard argues a breakup of the United States would be a disaster to be avoided at all costs. But if it happened, history suggests an independent New England might well emerge.

Colin Woodard·

Data Journalism

·May 29, 2022·1 min read

Population Figures for the American Nations, 2020 Census Edition

For those with an interest in the regional model set forth in American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, here are population figures for the U.S. portions of each of the nations as per the 2020 census and the rate of growth or loss for each since the 2010 census.

Colin Woodard·

Updates

·December 14, 2021·4 min read

Colin Woodard Named Visiting Senior Fellow at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center

December 14, 2021 NEWPORT, RI—Best-selling author Colin Woodard has been named a Visiting Senior Fellow at Salve Regina University’s Pell...

Colin Woodard·

Data Journalism

·November 8, 2017·9 min read

No, the Divide in American Politics Is Not Rural vs. Urban, and Here’s the Data to Prove It

For several years now, political journalists, analysts, and pundits have been arguing that U.S. politics has increasingly turned into a struggle between urban and rural voters. Regional differences were once paramount, Josh Kron observed in the Atlantic after the 2012 election.

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