Terry Weidner, Director, Mansfield Center
Proficient in Chinese; worked as political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing; worked as a Chinese political and economic analyst for the Foreign Broadcast Information Service in Washington, DC.; Academic interests include Chinese political economy, business, and U.S.-China relations.
E-mail: terry.weidner@umontana.edu
Phone: (406) 243-2281
Fax: (406) 243-2181
Don Loranger, Director, Defense Critical Language and Culture Program
Major General (USAF, Ret.)
General Loranger retired after thirty-years of USAF service as an operational pilot and specialist in US national security policy. He served as the Deputy POLAD, SACEUR and commanded three different air force bases: Little Rock AFB, AR; Rhein-Main AB, Germany; and Canon AFB, NM. He also directed Provide Promise, the humanitarian aerial resupply of Eastern Bosnia (1992-1994) and served as commander of Joint Task Force/Southwest Asia (Iraqi no-fly zone enforcement).
E-mail: don.loranger@mso.umt.edu
Office: (406) 243-3610
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Name and Photo Withheld
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
The DCLCP faculty includes an experienced linguist who recently worked as a foreign language instructor for the US Army Special Forces at Ft. Bragg, NC. He has also served as an interpreter in municipal courtrooms throughout the state of New York. In addition to being fluent in English, he is fluent in both Pashto and Dari and all the dialects of each.
Mohammad Faeez Akram
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Dr. Akram's pervious work experience includes working as a health insurance officer at Etisalat, a communication company in Afghanistan where he provided health service and addressed insurance issues for the company's staff. As a practicing medical doctor at the RMSI (Remote Medical Solution International), he provided appropriate treatment to patients visiting RMSI. He also served as a co-trainer and interpreter Microfinance Investment Support for Afghanistan and as co-trainer for Male Civil Servants on Gender sensitive management German Technical Cooperation (Gender Mainstreaming Project) in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he helped on empowerment/gender trainings and coaching for the Afghan Civil Service conducted by GTZ. He has assisted and helped the ministerial department’s gender sensitive unit and to create a more conducive environment for gender equality in the Afghan ministries. He is an active presenter and speaker on the Afghan culture, and his activities at DCLCP are essential for closely examining the Afghan culture.
Hamidullah Azamy
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Pashto Language Professor
Hamidullah Azamy has taught as a professor at teachers training college, primary health care and principle of management at several institutions in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Hamidullah has many years of methodology and curriculum development. In addition he served as senior trainer and supervisor for many programs such as Afghan Institute Training and management, Safe the Children Fund, UK. Hamidullah Azamy is fluent in Pashto, Dari (Persian), and Urdu.
E-mail: Office: (406) 243-3605
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Julie Brown
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Manager of Curriculum and Professional Development
Prior to coming to the Defense Critical Language and Culture program, Julie was a full time ESL instructor, director of studies and summer programs director at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Montana during the years of 2004-2010. She has also taught English as a foreign language in Plzen, Czech Republic; Seoul, South Korea and most recently in Kutaisi and Tbilisi, Georgia, where she was a visiting scholar teaching English language and American culture. Julie served in the Peace Corps as a rural community development volunteer and teacher trainer in Benin, West Africa. Julie trained teachers throughout Benin and in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Julie has also taught political studies at Wilmington College, Wilmington, Ohio, and business writing at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
John W. Jandora, Adjunct Professor Defense Critical Language and Culture Program Professor of Arab Studies
John has several years of varied experience in the Arab World, to include Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. He is well published in the fields of Arab-Islamic culture, history, and warfare. His latest book, States Without Citizens, addresses the problems of modernization in the Islamic World and the current violent reaction to them. John has taught Iraqi cultural awareness and cross-cultural negotiations to several units of the Montana National Guard.
E-mail: john.jandora@mso.umt.edu
Shaima Khinjani
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Shaima was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. Since an early age she was involved with education. During the Taliban regime, she opened an in-house school to teach girls and women to read and write. Her professional achievements are numerous: she worked as an International Program Manager & Gender in the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) and provided mentoring and training for the International Foundation for Electoral System (IEFS) in Kabul, Afghanistan. She was also a Gender Consultant for the Gender Unit at the Afghan Independent Election Commission, and worked as a Training Consultant for Women for Afghan Women (WAW). As an Evaluation Consultant for German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) Gender Mainstreaming Project in Kabul, she helped develop and evaluate gender programs through the Independent Afghan Civil Service Commission (IACSC). Prior to this experience Shaima also worked as an Executive Assistant to the Minister, in the Ministry of Higher Education, and Executive Assistant to the Minister, in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, in Kabul.
Shaima is currently studying towards her M.A. in Political Science at The University of Montana. She previously earned her B.A. in International Studies and Political Science with focus on the Middle East/Islamic States, in Ramapo College, New Jersey USA. She is an active speaker and presenter, and she serves as an essential resources to DCLCP, the UM campus, and the Missoula community at large.
Christopher Marlow, Manager, Curriculum & Administration, Defense Critical Language and Culture Program
Christopher graduated from The University of Montana in 2007 with a B.A. in Humanities emphasizing on East Asian studies. He began employment at the Mansfield Center after graduation as a Program Coordinator, organizing Montana-based training sessions on education and Montana state policy. Christopher has spent a total of 1 ½ years living in various locations around China and has a working knowledge of Mandarin.
E-mail: christopher.marlow@mso.umt.edu
Office: (406) 243-3613
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Owen Sirrs, Faculty Associate
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Arab Studies Professor
Owen served as a Senior Intelligence Office for the Defense Intelligence Agency based in Washington, D.C. He has many publications including a book just recently finished titledNasser and the Missile Age in the Middle East.
E-mail: jrsirrs@aol.com
Phone: (406) 243-3612
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Name and Photo Withheld
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
DCLCP faculty includes a Fulbright scholar from Afghanistan who worked for several international organizations in Afghanistan. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the US with a focus on International Relations and Comparative Politics. He worked as a teacher of English as a second language in his home country and is currently serving as an instructor of Dari and Pashto languages and Afghan culture at DCLCP. He has also been a public speaker in several events and conferences on a wide range of issues related to Afghanistan with the purpose of enhancing mutual understanding and develop a better knowledge of the situation, culture and issues in Afghanistan.
Muhammad Sharif Nasry
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Muhammad Sharif Nasry was born in Parwan Afghanistan in 1976. He got BA in Shariah & Law and MA in Politic & IR from International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. Mr Nasry worked for different national and international organizations in Kabul such as MSI, Afghanistan Rule of Law Project (ARoLP) a USAID-funded project, Ministry of Justice, Supreme Court of Afghanistan, Attorney General Office. He was head of Gender Unit in Afghanistan Independent Election Commission where he had remarkable achievements in 2009 and 2010 presidential and parliamentary elections. He was a key person in implementation of Women’s Rights under Islam Project from 2005 – 2009 in AROLP where he conducted several public discussions on women/children rights issues with afghan scholars and Ulamas in different regions of Afghanistan. Mr Nasry attended many national and international conferences/seminars on women/human rights as speaker. He is a Shariah Law expert and has a vast experience of working in afghan legal system.
Nasry is member of Afghan Bar Association and he has written numerous articles on Islamic legal system, women’s rights in Islam and democracy. He is fluent in Dari, Arabic, Pashto, English and Urdu languages.
Mr Nasry is currently working as Dari, Pashto and culture instructor for Defense Critical Language and Culture Program, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, The University of Montana USA.