Professor of the Practice
nsteiner@unc.edu
Website
Curriculum Vitae
304 Hamilton Hall
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2-3 and by appointment
Niklaus Steiner is a native of Thun, Switzerland, who moved to Chapel Hill with his family when his father became a professor at Carolina. He earned a bachelor’s degree with highest honors in international studies at UNC and a Ph.D. in political science at Northwestern University. He has had the good fortune of moving between cultures his whole life and because of this experience, his teaching and research interests are around immigration, refugees, nationalism, citizenship and identity. His textbook, International Migration and Citizenship Today (Routledge, 2nd edition 2023), seeks to facilitate classroom discussions on admission and membership in liberal democracies.
Before joining the political science department in 2020, he enjoyed 22 deeply gratifying years working at UNC’s Center for Global Initiatives, the last 15 as the director. He is especially proud of the work he and many colleagues from across campus did to bring diversity, equity and inclusion into global education at Carolina.
When not at work, Niklaus is often cutting or replanting flowers in the garden, walking in the woods with his family or making something up in the kitchen.