At this year’s Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Conference (SHAFR), Dr. Kyle Longley (History and MA in War, Diplomacy, and Society) was honored with the inaugural LaFeber-Wood Prize for Distinguished Teaching. The prize honors excellence in teaching and mentoring in the field of American diplomacy, and is named after Molly Wood of Wittenberg University, and the late Walter LaFeber, who taught at Cornell for many years.

SHAFR is an organization of scholars dedicated to the study of American foreign relations. This was the organization’s inaugural distinguished teaching prize, which included a cash award of $1,000, and required a lengthy application of letters of recommendation, sample syllabi, and a personal statement.

“This is the inaugural award, making it even more special as it honors two people I genuinely admire… I have really worked hard over my 30 years to balance the needs of providing exemplary teaching alongside the efforts to produce scholarship.”  — Dr. Longley

Dr. Longley also reflected on his time working with LaFeber, saying “Walt was a remarkably kind and caring person… and became a respected scholar and researcher but also had the wonderful skill of being a great lecturer and teacher… he always took time to help young scholars like me with reading chapters of my books, providing encouragement, and many other duties.”

Dr. Kyle Longley (History and MA in War, Diplomacy, and Society)

Dr. Longley is currently a professor in Chapman University’s Department of History and MA in War, Diplomacy, and Society.  He previously taught at Arizona State University as the Snell Family Distinguished Professor from 1995-2020. He has authored nine books, with one in press, and another about to be so, and has published numerous articles and essays across several journals. Many of his former students at Chapman have received their Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in History, War and Society, or other similar topics, and have moved on to teaching themselves.

“I have tried to live by the words ‘love what you teach, but also love who you teach… teaching is as much about relationships as it is about content,’” said Dr. Longley. He especially takes to heart the wisdom of his past mentors who have embodied this phrase, including his doctoral mentor George Herring from the University of Kentucky, Marilyn Young from New York University, and Walter LaFeber himself.

He elaborates on how his mentors have influenced the way he hopes his students learn by saying, “My role as a teacher has been much the same as my mentors, with an emphasis on a student-centered approach. While some may view historical events alone as the richest of lessons, my belief is to ask, ‘What did you learn and how? As a historian with a special focus on foreign relations, military, and politics, these questions are key… What is the purpose of war? Why did diplomacy fail? How do people justify it? What does interdependence among nations really mean? …To explore these questions means that students ideally leave my class pondering the same as they watch events unfold in their world.”