Faculty & Staff
Terry Weidner, Director, Mansfield Center
- Ph.D., University of California, Davis, Chinese History, 1980
- M.A., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1972
- B.A., St. Lawrence University, 1970
- Associate Director of International Programs, University of Kansas, 1991-1998
- Director of Asian Affairs Center and Missouri International Training Center, University of Missouri, 1998-2003
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
Janice Trickel, Director
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Director of the Defense Critical Language/Culture Program, comes to the DCLCP following her retirement as a Senior Foreign Service Officer. During Washington D.C. assignments, she served in the Near East/South Asia Bureau and Africa Bureau at the US Department of State. With more than 35 years of domestic and global experience overall, she has also lived and worked in South Korea, the Philippines, Japan, Germany, Oman, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
E-mail: janice.trickel@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 243-2278
Fax: (406) 243-2181
Mohamed El-Aasar, Arabic Specialist and Faculty Associate
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
- Ph.D. Candidate, The University of Montana
- M.S., Capella University, 2007
- M.A., University of Ain Shams, Cairo, 1984
- B.A., University of Ain Shams, Cairo, 1983
Mohammed taught Arabic Language and Area Studies at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and the Middlebury College in Monterey, CA. Publications include Silent Victims: The Plight of Arabs and Muslims in Post 9/11 America, and The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the Volatile Middle East.
E-mail: mohamed.el-aasar@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 543-6113
Fax: (406) 543-6462
BG (RET) Russell Howard, Faculty Associate
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Professor of Chinese Studies
- M.P.A., JFK School of Government, Harvard University
- M.A., Monterey Institute of international Studies
- B.A., Asian Studies, University of Maryland
- B.S., Industrial Management, San Jose State University
General Howard is the former head of the Department of Social Sciences, West Point. He also directed the Combating Terrorism Center after 9/11. Previous to this he served as a Chief-of-Staff Army Fellow at Harvard. The General is proficient in Chinese.
E-mail: russell.howard@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 543-6325
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Noureddine Jebnoun, Faculty Associate
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Arab Studies Professor
- Ph.D., Political Science, Sorbonne University, Paris 1996
- Diploma, NATO Defense College, Rome, 2001
- M.A. International Relations, Sorbonne University, Paris, 1993
- B.A. International Relations, Institute of International Relations, Paris, 1992
Noureddine Jebnoun is a Visiting Professor for Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs at the Mansfield Center with particular expertise on Arab and Middle Eastern politics. Prior to this, he taught courses in the contemporary Arab World at Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in D.C. In addition, he has taught at the Tunisian War College, the Tunisian National Defense Institute, and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies of the National Defense University in D.C. Dr. Jebnoun has an accomplished publication record including numerous articles and books in Arabic, English and French.
In addition to academic work, Dr. Jebnoun has a distinguished record as a researcher, lecturer and media guest. He has presented his research at many institutions including the NATO Defense College in Rome, the French Institute for Higher National Defense Studies in Paris, the Industrial College for Armed Forces in Washington, D.C., the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg and the Middle East Studies Association of North America-Annual Conference. He has appeared on various television news programs and been interviewed by a wide range of media including Al-Jazeera Arabic and English, the BBC, Voice of America and Al-Hurra TV.
E-mail: noureddine.jebnoun@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 543-1279
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Steven I. Levine, Associate Director, Mansfield Center
- Ph.D. Harvard University, 1972
- B.A. Brandeis University, 1962
- Director of Carolina Asia Center, UNC-Chapel Hill 2002-2004
Steve taught, inter alia, at American University, Columbia University, Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill and has a working knowledge of Chinese and Russian. He is the author and co-editor of several books, including Anvil of Victory: The Communist Revolution in Manchuria, and China’s Bitter Victory: The War with Japan, 1937-1945.
E-mail: steven.levine@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 243-2050
Fax: (406) 243-2181
Hsiao-Lan Roberts, Faculty Associate
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Chinese Language Professor
- Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
- M.A., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
- M.A., The University of Montana, Missoula
- B.A., Capital Normal University, Beijing
Hsiao-lan has taught Chinese at several universities. She formerly served as an Associate Professor at the Defense Language Institute, teaching and developing curriculum for their Chinese language program. Hsiao-lan is fluent in English and Chinese.
E-mail: hsiao.lan.roberts@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 543-0571
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Owen Sirrs, Faculty Associate
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Arab Studies Professor
- M.A., United States Naval War College, 2002
- M.S., National Defense Intelligence College, 2001
- B.S., Georgetown University
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 titled Nasser and the Missile Age in the Middle East.
E-mail: jrsirrs@aol.com
Phone: (406) 543-6356
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Bryan Spellman, Administrative Assistant
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
- Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 20th Century French Literature, 1986
- M.A. University of California, Berkeley, 1972
- B.A. University of California, Berkeley, 1970
After returning home to Montana to write his dissertation, Bryan spent twenty-one years as Administrative Officer for the School of Fine Arts at The University of Montana, where he was involved in the creation and administration of The Creative Pulse, an interdisciplinary master’s program for K-12 teachers in the arts and humanities. In addition to academic interests in language, literature, and pedagogy, Bryan enjoys making music, weaving, photography and travel—both foreign and domestic.
E-mail: bryan.spellman@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 543-6321
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Philip Williams, Faculty Associate
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Chinese Language Professor
- Professor of Chinese, Arizona State University, 2000-2004
- Assistant and Associate Professor of Chinese, Arizona State University, 1986-1999
- Ph.D., UCLA, 1985
Philip is the former Head of School of Language Studies and professor of Chinese language for Massey University, New Zealand. Two of his eight books include A Thousand Miles of Prison Walls and Mandarin Chinese the Easy Way. Philip is fluent in Chinese.
E-mail: philip.williams@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 543-6051
Fax: (406) 543-6462