Have you ever imagined living a life of mystery and intrigue as a spy? The year is 1985. Ronald Reagan is president. The U.S. military and scientific communities are two years into SDI development, and the Soviets are worried they are falling behind. To catch up, they have established a network of “illegals,” sleeper agents living under non-official cover whose purpose is to spy on SDI efforts, collect intelligence, recruit fellow spies, and in some cases, conduct influence operations to manipulate U.S. policy. If you were a spy (for either side), how would you define your persona?

Instructor: Colonel Jake Graham retired in July 2007 and joined the teaching and research faculty at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. He teaches intelligence analysis and modeling. He founded the Red Cell Analytics Lab, a student-focused lab that promotes instruction and practice of structured analytics to solve real-world problems of security and risk. His favorite class is Deception and Counter-Deception for National Security. Jake is the author of more than 30 academic papers. He recently published his first novel, Scimitar Strike, the first in a five-book series. Book two was published in late 2024.