The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) is the leading learned society

Learned society

A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...

 for the academic study of the history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 of United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 foreign policy

Foreign policy

A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...

.

Founded in 1967, SHAFR is best known for two activities. First, the society's journal, Diplomatic History, is generally regarded as the most prestigious journal in its field. Secondly, the society holds an annual conference each June. It generally alternates between Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and various other North American towns and cities with major universities. Recent hosts have included The University of Kansas

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

 (2006), The University of Texas at Austin (2004) and the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

 (2002).

In 1986, Professor Betty Miller Unterberger

Betty Miller Unterberger

Betty Miller Unterberger is a retired historian, who as professor of American international relations spent the bulk of her extensive academic career at Texas A&M University...

 of Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

became the first woman president of the organization, then 99 percent male in membership.