Jonathan (Jon) Olsen is a professor of political science and the chair of the Department of Social Sciences and Historical Studies at Texas Woman's University. From 1997-2014, he was professor of politics, philosophy and law at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He is a three-time Fulbright Scholar (including from 1988-90 when he was in Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall) and a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) fellow. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Münster, the University of Potsdam and the Europa University Viadrina (Frankfurt-Oder). Professor Olsen is the author of 4 books, including one of the earlier treatments of the phenomenon of "eco-fascism", Nature and Nationalism. Dr. Olsen has appeared as a commentator on German TV, radio and in newspapers and has presented papers at a number of conferences over the last twenty years, including the Conference of Europeanists, the International Association for the Study of German Politics (IASGP), the German Studies Association (GSA), and the American Political Science Association. Professor Olsen’s research focuses on German and European political parties, specifically parties of the radical left and radical right. Among the courses he teaches are European politics and the EU, Democratization, German politics Through Film, the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe, Fascism and the Contemporary Far Right, and various courses in political philosophy. Professor Olsen grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, received his bachelor's in philosophy from the University of Texas, his master's in Soviet and East European studies from Kansas University and his doctorate in political science from the University of Maryland, College Park.
