GRIID Winter 2018 Class: Investigating US Foreign Policy from 1898 to the Present

This 8-week class will investigate and analyze US foreign policy from what is normally referred to as the Spanish American War through the current policy under the Trump administration.

It is impossible to investigate more than a century of US foreign policy in 8 weeks. However, we will look at US Foreign Policy through various themes, such as chronological, geographical, the use of US soldiers, economic warfare, the use of proxy forces, weapons sales and diplomatic coercion. In addition, we will look at the human and ecological impact of US foreign policy.

There are no books assigned for this class, but we will use chapters from a variety of books, online sources that provide historical analysis, online sources that track certain aspects of US foreign policy, online sources that focus on specific regions or countries, declassified US government documents and current news & analysis of US foreign policy. In addition, we will use clips from various documentaries on US foreign policy and provide a bibliography for further investigation.

The GRIID class will be held on Monday nights beginning on Monday, January 29th and ending on Monday, March 19. The class runs two hours, from 6:30pm til 8:30pm. The GRIID class will be held at Plymouth United Church of Christ, located at 4010 Kalamazoo Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508.

The cost of the class is a suggested donation of $25 for the whole 8 weeks, but no one will be turned away because of the cost. For those interested in attending this class, send an e-mail to jsmith@griid.org.