The class has two main goals.  One is to provide students with a basic factual knowledge of international relations as influenced by modern U.S. presidents. Just as important, however, is the ability to use this information productively to evaluate, synthesize, or interpret key facts and ideas. Students will learn how to integrate factual data into some basic understanding of how  foreign policy choices are made and how they impact the United States and the world.

As a former professor of history, I have taught various courses on U.S. relations with countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. I published a chapter on President William McKinley (1897-1901) and his foreign policy. As a Ph.D. student, I had the honor of working with Dr. Robert Dallek, an American historian specializing in the presidents of the United States, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon.