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Manuscript Group 339
Papers, 1950-1991
2 cubic feet
The papers of political science professor Amos Yoder were donated to the University of Idaho Library in August 1991. They were processed by Judith Nielsen in March 1993
Amos Yoder, Borah Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Idaho since 1974, was born In Falls City, Nebraska, March 2, 1921. After receiving his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1942, he was an intern at the National Institute of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. for one year. From 1943 to 1944 he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the U.S. and England, and then spent two years as an analyst with the U.S. strategic bombing survey in Germany and Japan. Following the war he completed his education, receiving his Ph.D in international relations from the University of Chicago in 1949.
He then began a 25 year career with the U.S. State Department where he served on both the German and China desks, and with embassies in Israel and Thailand, as well as in political and policy planning. During this time he also lectured part-time for one year at George Washington University, and from 1964-1965 was a visiting lecturer at the University of California, Davis.
In 1974 he was hired as Borah Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Idaho, a position he held for 17 years, until his retirement in 1991. During the 1986-1987 school year he was a Fulbright Scholar at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing, China, where he taught American Foreign Policy, American history, Comparative government, and Diplomatic conversation. His wife, Janet, taught English to mid-career officials and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among his teaching methods was the holding of a mock UN Security Council Meeting in which his students represented ambassadors from the various countries on the council.
Yoder was active in university governance and in civic affairs. He is a member of the American Political Science Association, Amnesty International, Idaho Political Science Association, and Pacific Northwest Political Science Association. He has written or contributed to five books and has published several scholarly papers in professional publications, as well as giving presentations at many scholarly meetings. Among his honors are his selection as a Fulbright Scholar to the Foreign Affairs College, the Robson Prize, membership in Omicron Delta Kappa, the Merit Honor Award of the Department of State, a Meritorious Civilian Service Award, War Department Commendation Ribbon for work in the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, and a Certificate of Excellence from the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing.
The papers of Amos Yoder span the years 1950 to 1991, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1976-1991. Included are class lecture notes and related material, and an alphabetical file containing articles, news clippings, correspondence, and similar material, which is arranged by subject.
The papers of Amos Yoder are divided into two series. The first contains lectures for his political science courses and related articles. The lectures for each course were arranged chronologically and placed in one folder, with the related material in subsequent folders. These sets are arranged numerically by course number.
The remaining papers were of such a diverse nature that it was decided to arrange them alphabetically using Yoder's folder headings. Included are class papers, government news releases, articles, newspaper clippings, correspondence, reserve reading material, comments on theses, Kiwanis programs for community theater productions, notes on the speeches of others, and typescripts of his articles and speeches. Originally the final four folders were in one fat folder labeled "Important Papers." These were separated by type of material, e.g. correspondence, talks, articles, and filed at the end of the series.
I. Class Lectures and Related Articles, 1950-1991 1 II. Subject File, 1972-1991 1-2
Box Folder Description Items
1 1 Political Science 237, International politics, 1990 52 2 Related articles, 1983-1989 31 3 Political Science 381, Politics of Western Europe, 1989 51 4 Related articles, 1982-1986 47 5 Political Science 382, Communist politics, 1990 18 6 Related articles, 1980-1990 33 7-8 Political Science 438, Conduct of American foreign policy, 1991 46 9 Related articles, 1950-1991 50 10 Exercise, 1990 14 11 Cuba file, 1990 4 12 Political Science 440 (Honors) European unity, 1980-1990 36 13 Related articles, 1980-1989 27 14 Political Science 440 International Organization and International Law, 1990-1991 32 15 Related articles, 1974-1991 28 16 Afghanistan. Security Council Meetings, 1980 3 17-18 Political Science 449 World politics and war, 1991 44 19 Related articles, 1955-1991 39
20 Back to basics, 1990 1 21 Borah Symposium, 1976-1991 24 22 China, 1972-1989 37 23 China - Book requests, 1986 34 24 China - Comparative government, 1986 11 25 China - Conversation class, 1986 13 26 Church, Frank, 1973-1984 12 27 CIA intervention, 1981-1984 14 2 28 Comments on theses: Said Laswad, 1990 8 29 John Potter, 1991 4 30 Joseph J. St. Marie, 1990-1991 4 31 Communism, Chinese, 1989-1990 5 32 Communism, World movements, 1980-1987 8 33 Communist political systems and challenges (book by A. Yoder), 1989-1990 21 34 Congress, 1983-1986 33 35 Deans' salaries, 1990 30 36 Directed study, 1986-1988 9 37 Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East, 1974 1 38 Far Eastern politics, 1963-1964 4 39 Fulbright, 1985-1986 12 40 Iran-Iraq, 1980-1983 11 41 Kiwanis, 1981-1984 10 42 Martin Institute, 1990 44 43-47 Model United Nations Meetings, 1982-1990 137 48 Nelson, Mark, 1977-1978 11 49 Nuclear arms control, 1987-1989 6 50 Photo requests (for book The Conduct of American Diplomacy Since World War II), 1985 14 51 Political Science Graduate Student Organization, 1974-1976 23 52 Readings in American Foreign Policy (Political Science 438) n.d. 1 53 Sabbatical, 1986-1987 12 54 Speeches, 1979-1983 4 55 USSR documents, 1975-1989 21 56 World Food Council, Beijing, 1987 13 57 World War I, 1980-1985 17 58 Yoder: Correspondence, memos, 1974-1991 72 59 Other important papers, 1974-1990 32 60 Talks and presentations, 1975-1991 27 61 Typescripts of articles, 1974-1986 9
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