University instructors preparing prospective sixth- to twelfth-grade history teachers often realize it can be difficult to condense the extensive information these individuals need for their future profession into one or two courses. Teacher preparation programs are forced to juggle requirements for program accreditation with their ethical commitment to introduce students to national and state content and professional standards. Many students are required to take a range of courses, since these programs often sacrifice depth of understanding for breath of coverage. This means that many pre-service teachers have not had the opportunity to engage in an in-depth analysis of historical content and historical issues. Meanwhile, those that have a strong grasp of content knowledge have not necessarily made connections between the content in their college courses and their future teaching practice. The author had the opportunity to redesign their secondary social studies education program in an attempt to prepare their students better for the range of expectations they will face as professionals. One such modification is a new course that introduces the pre-service teachers to pedagogical approaches while strengthening their content knowledge. The following manuscript describes how the author uses Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle's graphic text, "A People's History of American Empire," as a textbook for the course.