This seminar will look at the history of the American right through the lens of present-day Trumpism, both to locate its short and long-term roots in US political history and to better understand the position of right-wing thought in the American political spectrum and society. We will be looking at key elements of conservative and right wing ideology, such as nativism, anti-communism and the belief in small government, important organizations from the John Birch Society to the Tea Party movement, relations between „respectable” and fringe groups, the militia phenomenon, KKK, Birthers and other conspirationalists, as well as trans-national networks of right-wing activism, the rise of the alt-right and, of course, Trumpism itself.