The Foreign Policy Association, a national organization, identifies a list of questions each year to be discussed by groups across the United States. The Association provides reading materials and a video on each topic. Guests will be expected to purchase the booklet of reading materials. The cost of the booklet is $35.00. Each session will start with a video on the topic, followed by a discussion. Five of the eight topics this year cover aspects of President Donald J. Trump’s administrative policies.
For some of the sessions, an outside speaker may be brought in. For other sessions, the topic will be covered solely by those in the class.
Here is a link to the Foreign Policy Association to pre-order the booklet of reading materials - https://fpa.org/product/great-decisions-2026-pre-order/
The topics for 2026 are:America’s Global RoleTrump’s TariffsU.S. - China RelationsToday’s Nuclear AgeUkraine and European SecurityMultilateral InstitutionsU.S. Engagement of AfricaThe Future of Human Rights
*NOTE: This course spans the middle of the winter quarter and extends into part of the spring quarter.

This course will focus not only on the founding of Anglo-Saxon England after the end of Roman occupation in the early fifth century, but also on its progression from a collection of petty kingdoms into a unified England, beginning with the Wessex ascendancy under Alfred the Great in the late 9th century. Guests will explore the theory of the “Anglo-Saxon” invasion of the mid-fifth century and challenge this narrative of conquest in light of the emerging theory of cultural integration between post-Roman British and Anglo-Saxon cultures. Both post-Roman British and Anglo-Saxon cultures will be explored, compared, and contrasted against historical and archaeological evidence to better understand the elements of cultural integration and, perhaps, shed light on the causes of Anglo-Saxon culture's dominance in the archaeological record by 500 CE. The foundation of each of the petty kingdoms that made up what became known as the Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon England will be explored through a combination of primary sources and archaeological evidence.

Shortly after the foundations of said kingdoms, over the following sixth and seventh centuries, Christianity spread throughout the petty kingdoms until the last hold of paganism, the isle of Wight in southern England, in the late seventh century. The efforts and effects of the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England will be explored by guests through analysis of primary sources and reported historical events, to deepen understanding of how this conversion of religious thought and practice affected shifts in power and culture across the petty kingdoms.

Along with dynamic changes in religion, Anglo-Saxon England underwent shifts in power and influence as different petty kingdoms grew more dominant over the centuries. Guests will explore the ascendancy and dominance of the petty kingdom of Mercia in central England from the mid-seventh to late eighth centuries through the reigns of notable rulers such as Penda and Offa. The Mercian supremacy would be replaced that of Wessex under Ecbert and Alfred the Great, who would begin the process of unifying the petty kingdoms under Wessex through the invasion of the Vikings under the great heathen army in the mid-ninth century.

It would be the following kings and rulers of Wessex who ultimately unite the entirety of England as one Christian kingdom before the invasion of the Normans under William the Conqueror in 1066 CE.

Guests will explore this complex web of cultural exploration, political intrigue, and military action through a cross-disciplinary approach, using archaeology, primary and secondary sources, interactive lessons, and multimedia presentations. This method aims to give students a deep understanding of the historical events, their circumstances and consequences, and how cultural motivations and changes influenced these events and the people involved.

This course will focus on the Middle Ages from the Norman invasion in the mid-11th century to the dawn of the Renaissance period (late fourteenth to late fifteenth centuries), and on the dramatic changes that both Europe and the Near East underwent during those times. In Europe, following the Norman conquest, there was a much more stratified social hierarchy: those who prayed (the clergy), those who fought (knights), and those who worked (the peasantry). This stratified hierarchy would inform the feudal system established as Europe's social order immediately following the Norman conquest of 1066 CE.

Guests will explore how the Crusades, an on-and-off conflict between mainland Europe and the Fatimid Caliphate (based in Egypt), began in 1095. The First Crusade was called by Pope Urban II to reclaim the Holy Land for Christendom. This would lead to a series of separate crusades that spanned from the first in 1095 to the eighth crusade in 1270 CE. How this continuing conflict connected Europe and the Near East through cultural and economic exchange will be examined, as will how the various military conflicts affected and altered geopolitical relations and circumstances in the Medieval World.

Along with the crusades, the socio-political dynamics and conflicts between the kingdoms of Europe will also be explored, including the 100-year war between France and England, which spanned the mid-fourteenth to the mid-fifteenth century. This dynastic conflict would see England and France engage in three separate wars, featuring great historical figures such as Henry V and Joan of Arc. It would define not only military practices for both countries for the following centuries, but also the cornerstones of each country's culture. Notably, through this time period, the concept of Chivalry was deeply honored and practiced by both sides of the war until the Battle of Agincourt under the command of Henry V.

Guests will also explore the bounty of literature, art, and architecture that was created in the eleventh to fifteenth centuries, including the advent of the Gothic architecture of Norman-style churches, the great folk tales such as The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, as well as the familiar tales of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Along with the complex cultural and socio-political dynamics of the Middle Ages, there was another major event that shaped Europe in the late fourteenth century: the Black Death, or bubonic plague. This event reduced the total population of Europe by a reported one-third and may well have set the stage for the emergence of the humanist movement of the Renaissance, which began in the late fourteenth century in Italy.

Guests will explore this complex web of cultural exploration, political intrigue, and military actions through a cross-disciplinary method, using archaeology, primary sources, secondary sources, interactive lessons, and multimedia presentations. This method aims to give students a deep understanding of the historical events, their circumstances and consequences, and how the cultural motivations and changes influenced these events and the people involved in them.