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).
Email: don.loranger@mso.umt.edu
Office: (406) 243-3610
Fax: (406) 543-6462
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.
Office: (406) 243-3605
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Christopher Marlow, Deputy Director, Administration and Finance Defense Critical Language and Culture Program
Christopher graduated from The University of Montana in 2007 with a B.A. in Humanities and an emphasis on East Asian studies. During university, he studied in Nanjing, and later returned to China to teach as an ESL instructor. Following graduation, he began work at the Mansfield Center organizing programs for the All China Youth Federation and assisted in setting up a number of projects to include the Defense Critical Language and Culture Program. He is currently seeking his MBA.
Email: 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.
Email: jrsirrs@aol.com
Phone: (406) 243-3612
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Terry Weidner, Adjunct Professor
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.
Email: terry.weidner@umontana.edu
Phone: (406) 243-2281
Fax: (406) 243-2181
Matt House
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Program Specialist
Matt graduated from The University of Montana in 2006 with a B.S. in Business Administration, emphasizing both Management and Marketing. Prior to joining the Defense Critical Language & Culture Program in 2012, Matt served as the Administrative Associate to Dean Roberta Evans of the Phyllis J. Washington College of Education and Human Sciences. He also assisted the Department of Counselor Education with data collection and processing for their accreditation paperwork. Before working at The University of Montana, Matt served as a banker at a major finical institution.
Email: Matthew.House@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 243-3603
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Fadi Elhin
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Arabic Instructor
Dr. Elhin received his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. Prior to working at the Defense Critical Language & Culture Program, Dr. Elhin taught over 200 high school students as an Arabic instructor in the Missoula County (Montana) public school system for two years. He also previously taught at Bergen Community College.
Email: fadi.elhin@umontana.edu
Phone:(406) 243-3625
Fax: (406) 543-6462
Myong Hee Choi
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Associate Professor
Dr. Myong Hee Choi received her Ph.D. degree in Linguistics at Georgetown University and M.A. degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Prior to joining the Defense Critical Language & Culture Program, Dr. Choi taught College English, Acquisition Theory and Practice, and Teaching Method courses at the university level as an assistant professor in Korea. As a Korean lecturer, she has taught college-level courses of Korean language and culture. She has also developed teaching materials, classroom activities and tests in Korean, in the Korean language program at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and at the East Asian Languages and Cultures Department of Georgetown University. Her primary research and teaching interests include Korean as a second language acquisition, comparative analysis of Korean- and English-type languages (with a focus on abstract grammatical features and associated meanings), proficiency oriented language instruction, and languages for specific purposes in theory and practice.
Email: myong.choi@mso.umt.edu
Abderrahman (Abdul) Lhousni
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program
Arabic Instructor
Abdul graduated from Mohammed I University of Morocco with his DESA in English Literature, a degree between a doctorate and a master’s. Prior to joining the faculty at the Defense Critical Language & Culture Program, Abdul taught English as a foreign language in Morocco as well as giving multiple guest lectures on Morocco, the Arab World, and other topics in Missoula and Morocco. He wrote many academic papers and participated in international symposia. He also has two unpublished collections of poems in Arabic, four short stories in English and he is recently writing a novel in Arabic. In addition to speaking Arabic and English, Abdul is also proficient in French and Tamazight (Berber).
Email: bluemanflute@hotmail.com
Phone:(406) 243-3629
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.
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.
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.
Dari Iso-Immersion Underway/Dari Students Graduating
The Defense Critical Language & Culture Program is proud to announce that the Elementary/Intermediate Dari class, following their Iso-Immersion Monday, November 12 through Friday, November 16, will be graduating from our program and gearing up for deployment. The students did a phenomenal job learning the very difficult Dari language.
DCLCP Receives Course Approval for ARAB 291
Partnering with the Arabic Studies Program, the Defense Critical Language & Culture Program received course credit approval for its ARAB 291 Conversational Arabic winter session course. This course, which will be taught over via an online platform, will give ROTC cadets at the Novice-Mid proficiency level an opportunity to practice the Arabic language and learn more about the cultures of its native speakers level.
Missoulian Reports DCLCP Flourishing
The Defense Critical Language & Culture Program’s success made the front page of Missoula’s local newspaper on October 15. As one of five critical language programs funded by the Department of Defense, it has immerged as one of the top programs of its kind.