Dr. James R. Sofka specializes in international relations and political leadership in the era of the American Founding. He has designed and delivered innovative academic, executive education, and general audience courses in these fields in both traditional and distance-learning formats and teaches regularly for the Brookings Institution, the Federal Executive Institute, and the University of Virginia’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He previously taught in the Department of Politics in the University of Virginia, where he also served as dean of the undergraduate honors program in the College of Arts and Sciences. A Jefferson scholar specializing in diplomatic history, Dr. Sofka has published widely on American foreign relations in the Founding era and has contributed to international conferences organized by American and European universities and global research institutions such as the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, where he has held two fellowships.