Instructor Biography: Jess Velona
JESS VELONA is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School with an MA in history from NYU. He teaches courses on American history, the Nazi regime, Russian history and other topics at Fordham, NYU, and other universities in the New York area, and is a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School. Velona clerked for then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg and practiced law for 35 years, including 20 at the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a one-time candidate for public office in Manhattan and former aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Velona loves sharing his passion for politics and history.
 
Other classes taught
1968: The Year that Shook Our History
Churchill, Britain's Incomparable Leader
Executive Orders and the Expansion of Presidential Power
Great Modern Speeches: From Kennedy to Reagan, From King to Obama
Great Speeches in Modern History: How Leaders Have Won Our Hearts and Minds
Leaders in Crisis: American Presidents Who Saved Our Country
Putin and the Invasion of Ukraine: Roots in Russian History
Slavery in an Age of Enlightenment
The Cuban Missile Crisis: How JFK Saved Our Country and the World
The Nazi Regime: Tracing the Historical Path to Incomparable Horror
The Pardon Power: Uses and Abuses
The Supreme Court in Crisis: What Can Be Done?
The Threat to American Democracy: What We Can Learn from the Rise of the Nazis
Vietnam and the Road to Watergate: Lessons from the Johnson and Nixon Tapes
Walking Tour: Step Back in Time to the Old Lower East Side