I had grand plans to visit Bletchley Park and write about my amazing experience on the blog today. I also decided to write last week’s post on the train to Edinburgh. Neither happened. I overslept on Sunday, missed the early train to Bletchley Park, and would not have returned in time to make it to the conference committee meeting and set up. On the train, I was tired and just enjoyed reading. So today isn’t about cracking the code and uncovering historical secrets, but about my conference roundup and future plans to visit Bletchley. I’ll visit in a couple of years. I learned that they host a conference every two years. The third annual conference will be in 2028. For now, let’s talk about 2026 and the Society for Intelligence History (SIH) conference.
At SIH, I was on the program committee, which was a great experience. I presented my paper, Curating Espionage: Selecting Readings for College Seminars, as part of the Intelligence Education, Leadership & Professional Formation panel. I also chaired two other panels, AI, Digital Intelligence & Decision-Making and Ian Fleming, Intelligence Fiction & Public Culture. Despite being on the committee, I had no role in creating my panel, which, on paper, sounded like we all fit together, but only a couple of us did. That was fine. I was worried I wouldn’t get any questions or comments. I did, and a couple of people also asked me to send them my reading lists. With four on our panel, we were asked to stick to 10-15 minutes, and I came in right at 10. The way I see it, someone will also go over, and giving back time allows for more questions. Conference attendees only see our titles, so I really could have gone anywhere with mine, but I stuck to the abstract I sent. It feels weird to me to change unless your research totally changes, but for this it did not. My abstract was pretty straightforward and allowed for an easy outline and paper.
In this paper, I examine the process of selecting readings for college seminars that explore the complex themes of espionage. I aim to assist educators in crafting balanced, engaging curricula that deepen students’ understanding of espionage as a significant social, political, and cultural phenomenon. Additionally, I will discuss how faculty members can work within university constraints to integrate the espionage framework into existing courses such as Introduction to the Humanities, Surveys of World History, or American History. By carefully selecting readings that explore themes such as history, tradecraft, betrayal, ethics, and contemporary issues, we can help students make meaningful connections. Combining nonfiction accounts with fictional narratives adds depth to the course, providing both factual insights and creative viewpoints. This approach not only enriches the learning experience but also equips students with the analytical skills needed to navigate the complexities of intelligence and its impact on society.
As a reminder, I like to build monthly themes around my blog and Instagram content whenever possible, and October’s theme is Secrets and Storytelling. In many ways, that theme perfectly captures what I teach in my espionage courses. Spies operate in a world of hidden information, but it is through stories, whether historical accounts, memoirs, novels, or films, that we make sense of their actions and impact. My conference paper examines how instructors can select readings that help students explore those connections and develop a deeper understanding of intelligence, ethics, and history. Since my students are always eager to discuss spies, secrets, and “real life” examples, this paper practically wrote itself and aligned perfectly with the month’s theme.
Presenting this paper reminded me that conferences are about more than the sessions on the program. People in academic fields shape how they think about topics like intelligence, history, and methodology through ongoing conversations and debates. Papers and panels matter, but some of the best discussions happen in hallways between sessions, over coffee, at dinner, or on walks back to the hotel. Those informal conversations give scholars a chance to chat, get to know others in the field, share sources, compare teaching approaches, and figure out how they see their field. This conference brings together academics, independent historians, and people in the intelligence sector. I do have to admit I’ve never called my students citizens. They’ve always been students to me, but I realized here that we have those inside the intelligence bubble and those outside, with security clearance and those very much without. In that sense, the behind-the-scenes networking and exchange of ideas can matter as much as the presentations.
Conferences are also spaces where scholars craft and refine their professional identities. Presenting my work on espionage pedagogy gave me the opportunity not only to discuss course design but also to contribute to broader conversations about how intelligence history is taught and interpreted. The choices we make as researchers, educators, and presenters help shape the stories we tell about our fields and the questions we encourage others to ask. Through the lens of this month’s theme, conferences are remarkably story-rich spaces. They are places where knowledge is negotiated, perspectives are challenged, and new narratives emerge. Just as espionage relies on uncovering hidden information and interpreting competing accounts, academic conferences bring people together to construct shared understandings of the past and present through conversation, collaboration, and storytelling.
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