Guest Speakers
Samuel Kvesi Amoo
Samuel Kvesi Amoo is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Namibia. He has also lectured at Harare Polytechnic in Zimbabwe and the United Nations Institute for Namibia in Zambia. He is an advocate for the Supreme Court of Namibia, and advocate of the High Court of Namibia, a member of the Zambia bar association, and a member of the Law Society of Namibia.
Loren Anderson
Loren Anderson is president of Pacific Lutheran University. In his 13th year as president, Dr. Anderson has led the university through major enrollment growth and financial stability. Under his leadership the two most successful fund-raising campaigns for the university were completed, surpassing funding goals in both cases. Dr. Anderson is involved in many international initiatives, including as a leader in the PLU-Norway-Namibia partnership, supporting efforts in peace studies. Anderson is chair of the Norwegian-American Foundation. He earned his degree in philosophy from Concordia College, a master's degree in rhetoric and public address from Michigan State University, and a doctorate in communication theory and research from the University of Michigan.
Liv Arnesen
In 1994, Liv Arnesen became the first woman to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole, a 50-day expedition of more than 750 miles. In 1992, she led the first unsupported women's crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap. In 1996, she participated in an expedition to Mount Everest, coming within 6,200 feet of the summit. In February of 2001, Arnesen and American polar explorer Ann Bancroft (see below) became the first women in history to sail and ski across Antarctica’s landmass – completing a 94-day, 1,717-mile trek. In 1995, Arnesen founded White Horizons, a company that provides motivational lectures and teambuilding programs to youths and adults. Liv has been involved with education for 20 years as a teacher and a coach.
Sélma Ashipala-Musavyi
Sélma Ashipala-Musavyi is the newly appointed Charge d"Affaires, a.i. and Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Namibia in Washington DC. She brings a long history of experience to this prestigious position, having served as the Under Secretary and Head of Department for Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Namibia, the Deputy Permanent Representative, Namibia Mission to the United Nations in New York, and the Counsellor, Namibian Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Her Excellency's educational background includes a diploma in Development Studies from Devon College of Technology, United Kingdom, a post graduate diploma in International Relations from Keele University, United Kingdom, and a Masters Degree in Diplomatic Studies from Keele University, United Kingdom.
Ann Bancroft
In 1993, Ann Bancroft led the American Women’s Expedition to the South Pole, a 67-day expedition of 660 miles (1,060 km) on skis by four women, earning the distinction of being the first woman in history to cross the ice to both the North and South Poles. In 1992 Bancroft and Arnesen led the first unsupported women’s crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap. In 1986 she dogsleded 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the Northwest Territories in Canada to the North Pole as the only female member of the Steger International Polar Expedition, earning the distinction of being the first known woman in history to cross the ice to the North Pole.
Ann’s tenacity and courage that define her character have earned her worldwide recognition as one of today’s most influential role models. She has been featured in the book Remarkable Women of the Twentieth Century (1998) and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame (1995).
Steinar Bryn
Steinar
Bryn is the director of the “Democracy, Human Rights and Peaceful
Conflict Resolution” project at Nansenskolen in Lillehammer, Norway. He
served as an American Scandinavian Foundation Visiting Lecturer at
Pacific Lutheran University during spring semester 2004, teaching a
course on the role of communication in the development and management
of human conflict. He has most recently been working to foster dialogue
among ethnic groups in the Balkan states. During the years 1999 - 2003
he has conducted more than 60 dialogue seminars, mainly between Serbs
and Albanians from Mitrovica, between Macedonians and Albanians from
Macedonia, and between Croats and Muslims from Mostar. He has also
conducted larger joint seminars in Bethlehem and Jerusalem with
Israelis, Arabs, and Palestinians. He has help establish eight Nansen
Dialogue Centers in the Balkan region; and been involved in training
programs for participants from the Middle East, South Africa, and
Northern Ireland
Ronald S. Byrnes
Ronald S. Byrnes is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Pacific Lutheran University. Ron has lived and taught in Ethiopia and China. His research interests include international education, cultural globalization, and education reform. Ron’s most recent publications are the Bancroft-Arnesen Expedition Curriculum, “Exploring Cultural Conflicts: Journeys for Peace,” a co-authored article, “Teaching About Pluralism: Our Missteps and Nextsteps,” and an essay titled “Living, Working, and Studying Abroad: Towards an Other-regarding Travel Orientation.”
Salah Ahmed ElGuneid
Salah Ahmed ElGuneid serves as the Sudan Minister to the United States.
Thor Ola Engen
Thor
Ola Engen is Profossor of Education at Hedmark University College . His
research has focused on minority studies. His most recent research
publications include “Bi-lingual, Minority Languages, and Minority
Educational Instruction” and “The Importance of Multicultural
Perspectives in Teacher Education”.
Ingrid Ford
Ingrid Ford, a graduate of the PLU School of Nursing in 1997, has worked as a medical/surgical nurse in the USA and since 2001 as a volunteer for Medecins Sans Frontiers-France/Doctors Without Borders. She served in Kenya working in projects providing treatment for HIV/AIDS using anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs and in the Ivory Coast in a project providing basic health care and sanitation to prisoners. Ingrid is currently based in their Paris office and responsible for Human Resources in Sudan, Tchad and Iran.
Noah Goaseb
Noah Goaseb serves as Professor of Education at the University of Namibia.
Jeni Gregory
After graduating from PLU in 1995, Jeni went on to receive a M.S.W. from the University of Washington in 1996 and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at Union Institute.
Jeni founded and serves as the Vice-President of World Change for Children, an organization providing services for children who are in poverty and/or homeless.
Since 2001, Jeni has served as project coordinator for the Metropolitan Development Council SAMHSA, which aids patients of Health Care for the Homeless, who have serious and persistent mental illness.
Jeni is experienced both internationally and nationally in disaster relief. More specifically she is skilled in providing mental health trauma services to various populations and age groups.
Inger Haug
Inger Haug is Associate Professor of Political Science at Hedmark University College in Elverum, Norway. She teaches “Norwegian Society and Culture” to international students, and also leads a class entitled “Peace and Development in a Cross Cultural Perspective. She is a visiting scholar to the Pacific Lutheran University Campus for the month of January.
Yngve Haugstveit
Dr. Haugstveit has a Ph.D. from the Norwegian School of Business Administration, Oslo University and is currently serving as Rector of Hedmark University College in Elverum, Norway. His professional experience includes serving on the Hamar city council, serving as the principal of the Institute for Social Sciences at Hedmark Univeristy College and holding the position of Program leader for the Master in Public Administration - exectuive program in cooperation with Karlstads University. His special areas of interest include: organizational theory, culture and change and human resource management. His publications include: Changes in Society and Consequences for Socialization and Education (University of Oslo, 1977), Organizational Development From a Game Theory Perspective (NHH/Hedmark College, 1989) and Public Organizing and Control (NKS, Fjernudervining, 1992). Hedmark University College offers studies in six different centers of learning: Education, Health Studies, Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Business Administration, Social Sciences and Computer Science, and Forestry and Wildlife Management.
Mike Hillis
Mike Hillis, author of the elementary curriculum for the 2005 Arneson-Bancroft Expedition, is an Associate Professor of Education at Pacific Lutheran University. Prior to his current position, he taught at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee after graduating from the University of Washington in educational psychology and multicultural education. In the 2000-2001 academic year, Professor Hillis was a Fulbright Roving Scholar of American Studies in Norway, working with teachers and students in public schools across the country. Professor Hillis’ recent writing includes articles in “Social Studies and the Young Learner,” “The Rural Educator," and “Språk og Språkundervisning." His research interests include the construction of race and ethnicity in the classroom, the moral assumptions of multicultural education, and the integration of literacy and social studies.
Stein-Erik Horjen
Stein-Erik Horjen serves as a Special Advisor on Peace and Human Rights for Norwegian Church Aid (Kirkensnødhjelp). Norwegian Church Aid is a non-governmental and ecumenical organization that works to ensure the individual’s basic rights. Anchored in the Christian faith, NCA supports the poorest of the poor, regardless of gender, political conviction, religious affiliation and ethnicity. Horjen is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church of Norway, and through his work with NCA has had engagements in Burma, Kosovo, the Sudan, and the Middle East. He has also held several seminars on peace and reconciliation for theological institutions and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Christine Ingebritsen
Christine Ingebritsen is Associate Vice Provost, Undergraduate
Education, and Associate Professor of Scandinavian Studies at the
University of Washington. Also at the UW she has served as chair of
European studies, as adjunct associate professor in the department of
political science and in women’s studies. She is an accomplished author
and has recently published The Nordic States and European Unity
(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), Globalization,
Europeanization and the End of Scandinavian Social Democracy? co-edited
by with Robert Geyer and Jonathon Moses (London: Macmillan Press,
2000), and US—European Interactions co-edited with Sabrina Ramet
(Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, forthcoming 2002).
Géza Jeszenszky
Former Hungarian Ambassador to the United States, Géza Jeszenszky is a professor in the history of international relations in the department of international relations at Budapest University of Economics and Public Administration. He has served as dean of the School of Social and Political Science, president of the Hungarian Atlantic Council, a member in the Hungarian Parliament and Hungarian minister for foreign affairs. He is a visiting scholar at Pacific Lutheran University for the month of January.
The Reverend Canon Clement Janda
Rev. Janda is a representative of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. A Sudanese Anglican priest, he has served as General Secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches. He is dedicated to promoting the protection of human rights, conflict resolution, and Africa's economy.
Reverend Janda has served on the Sudan Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches in Geneva. He was ordained as priest in the Episcopal Church of Sudan in 1970.
Phanuel M. Kaapama
Phanuel M. Kaapama is a Lecturer of Professor of Political Science and
Administrative Studies at the University of Namibia. He is also a
pre-candidature student for a Ph.D. in public and development
administration at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. His
dissertation is titled Commercial Agricultural Land Reforms in
Post-Colonial Namibia: A Case Study in the Political Economy of
Property Rights. He has previously lectured with the Southern African
Defense and Security Management Network and the United Nations
Development Programme in Windhoek, Namibia. As national coordinator for
the Capacity Building for Economic Management Programme he provided
administrative/technical support to agencies of the Namibian government
and acted as a link between the Namibian field office of the UNDP,
United Nations Department of Economic and Political Affairs (UN-DESA)
in New York and the Namibian government.
Ann Kelleher
With
a doctorate from the University of Denver's Graduate School of
International Studies, Kelleher has almost forty years of teaching
experience as well as thirty-six years of international program
development experience. Currently a Professor in the Political Science
Department as well as Director of Multidisciplinary Programs at Pacific
Lutheran University, her past administrative positions include
department chair, Director of the Center for International Programs,
and Dean of the Division of Social Sciences. Her teaching has earned
her a "teacher of the year" award and she received a Fulbright Senior
Lectureship to teach at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara,
Turkey. Kelleher's programmatic and research/publication experience
includes work in Jamaica, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Peru,
Ecuador, Mexico, Norway, and Namibia. Her published research articles
are in the fields of development studies and international education
and she has published two books, Learning from Success - Campus Case
Studies in International Program Development and Global Perspectives -
A Handbook for Understanding International Issues. Currently she is
administering two grant projects: one training Ovahimba primary school
teachers in Namibia funded by USAID, and the second supporting Pacific
Lutheran University's alternative core of graduation requirements - The
International Core: Integrated Studies of the Contemporary World -
funded by USDOE.
Tadao Kiyonari
Tadao Kyonari is President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo and has served as a Professor of Economics and Dean of the School of Business Administration at Hosei University. Kiyonari's latest publications include: “Challenge of Private Universities in the 21st Century” and “Ideal Private University for the 21st Century”. Currently he serves as a member of the Okinawa Development Council, Vice President of the Japan Association of Private Colleges and Universities, member of the board of trustees of the Japanese University Accreditation Association, and Chairman of the Japan Academic Society for Ventures and Entrepreneurs.
Jørgen Klein
Jørgen Klein is Associate Professor of Development Studies at Hedmark University College. His primary research interests are focused on the environment and problems surrounding the exploitation of natural resources in developing countries. Central elements in his research have focused on the cultural and social economic factors in a “political ecology."
Jennifer Leaning
Jennifer Leaning, M.D., S.M.H., is Professor of International Health, Department of Population and International Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Leaning directs the Program on Humanitarian Crises and Human Rights based at the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights. She also serves as an attending physician in the Emergency Department of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Leaning teaches disaster management, human rights and response to humanitarian crises.
For
ten years she was editor-in-chief of Medicine and Global Survival, an
international quarterly that addresses issues of war, disaster, human
rights, and the environment from the perspective of medicine and public
health. She has field experience in the problems of disaster response
and human rights, and has written widely on these issues.
Terje Leiren
Terje Leiren is Professor and Chair of the Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington. His current research work focuses on Sigurd Ibsen. He also offers graduate studies in the area of modern Scandinavian history, national identity in Scandinavia, social and political development, the welfare state, emigration, and roles of small nations.
Paula Leitz
Paula Leitz is Associate Dean/Associate Professor in the School of Education at Pacific Lutheran University. Paula has been in the educational field for the past 33 years. She has been a professor at PLU for ten years. She has taught children with special needs from the age of 5 to 21 and has been a school district administrator for special education and other federal programs. She chaired the first conference for special educators in South Africa for the International Association for Special Education in 1997. She was the co-chair for an USAID grant in Namibia (Capacity Building for Ondao Primary Teachers) over the last two years. Her research interest include international special education issues and teacher training in Namibia.
Steve Leitz
Steve Leitz is Principal at Minter Creek Elementary School in the Peninsula School District. An educator for 30 years, Steve is currently an elementary principal in the Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor, Washington. He has worked as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools in Washington, California, New Jersey, Colorado and New York. In addition, he has taught at the university level at Rutgers University, Stanford, and Pacific Lutheran University. His research interests include educational technology, math instruction, and international educational development. Recently, Steve has worked with the Capacity Building project with the Ondao Primary Schools Program in Namibia, southern Africa.
Sidsel Lied
Sidsel Lied is Associate Professor of Education at Hedmark University College. Dr. Lied’s research interests have been in the area of multicultural and multi-religious awareness in the classroom. She has most recently been involved with the project “Multicultural Awareness through Awareness through Meetings with Religious and Philosophical Plurality” and “Teacher Education as a Part of Mulicultural Nation Building”.
Svein Ludvigsen
Svein Ludvigsen is Minister of Fisheries and member of the Conservative Party. He has served as County Executive in Troms since 2001.Previously he served as a member of the Norwegian Parliament 1989-2001 and a member of Parliamentary delegation to the Nordic Council 1997-2001
Johan Løvald
Ambassador Løvald was appointed Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations in 2003. Before this appointment he served as Deputy Secretary General in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Løvald was Norway’s Ambassador to Canada 1996-2000 and has also served as Political Director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He has furthermore served at Norway’s delegation to NATO and in the Embassy in Beijing. Ambassador Løvald previously served as a member of the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations during 1977-1980, which included Norway’s membership in the Security Council. He is a graduate of Northwestern University where he earned a Ph.D. in policial science.
Rune Ottosen
Rune Ottosen has worked for many years as a journalist in various Norwegian media. From 1984-89 he was engaged as a lecturer and research fellow at the Norwegian College of Journalism. From 1989 -1993 he worked as a Information Director and Research Fellow at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) where he was in charge of the research project "Enemy Images in Norwegian Media Since the Thaw in East-West Relations."
From 1994-1996 he worked as a research fellow at the Norwegian Journalist Federation writing the professional history of Norwegian journalists. Since 1996 he has taught journalism at Oslo University College; he became a full professor in July 1999. He has published several books and articles in the field of journalism, cultural history, environmental problems and international conflicts.
Svein Ørsnes
Svein Ørsnes is the Director of the The Norway Namibia Association which started out as a local grassroots project in Elverum, Norway. The organization evolved into an aid organization when Namibia became independent in 1990. The Association runs development projects in Namibia, which are targeted at groups struggling with the after-effects of the apartheid-system.
George Russell
George Russell is chairman emeritus of the Russell Investment Group. In
1990 he founded Russell 20-20; a non-profit group of 20 pension plan
sponsors and 20 money managers, which today represents $8 trillion in
investment capital. The group's early exploration of emerging financial
markets such as Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, China, and
India has significantly enhanced knowledge and investment strategies
for its members.
In
1999, its focus was broadened to include all developing countries. At
the same time, the Russell EMPulse series of interview reports on
emerging markets was introduced, to encourage meaningful dialogue
between Russell 20-20 members and senior government and private sector
leaders in developing countries.
Christine Schulze
Christine Schulze has been the executive director of Concordia Language Villages since 1989. She graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, with majors in French, history-political science and a minor in German with a secondary education certification. She studied in Rennes, France, and taught French at Concordia for a year. She attended an international law study program in Lyon, France, and earned a juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School. She was admitted to the State Bar of Minnesota.
Schulze has been on staff with Concordia Language Villages for 30 years. She served as dean of Lac du Bois , the French Language Village, and directed the French Village Weekends for six years. Schulze also was the first leader of the French Voyageur and co-led an abroad program to Switzerland.
Selma Shejavali
Selma Shejavali has been program officer for HIV/AIDS and Violence Against Women and Children for the Council of Churches in Namibia. She has dedicated her life to the work of the church in Namibia. She has been an advocate for peace in her country, and a uniting force among the women of the three different Lutheran churches. She is an advocate for women and children, especially those suffering from HIV/AIDS. She has also served as President of the Philippine Conference. She has been actively involved as an interviewer for the Yale-United Nations Oral History Project 1996-2002. Her passion in working on this project was her desire to record the history of her people, preserve the wisdom of the elders, and record the early stories of the missionaries that came to Namibia who imposed new customs on these people.
Hannes Siebert
South African Hannes Siebert -- an international CPMR consultant, trainer, facilitator and mediator and director of the Appeal Foundation and the Media Peace Center – has worked in many of the world’s most conflict-ridden societies: southern Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Northern Ireland, the Middle East and the Balkans. Siebert is both a peacemaker and media producer. He is currently facilitating aspects of the peace process in Sri Lanka, working at both track one and track two levels, and developing/producing `mediatory’ media projects with local media; developing/producing similar media projects – designed to help heal ethnic divides -- with media in the Balkans; facilitating the design process for a prominent Middle East think tank to initiate reforms across the region; and facilitating several joint dialogue initiatives between the U.S. and the Arab world to help bridge the gaps in perception and understanding. In South Africa (1991-1994) Siebert headed the media and youth divisions of the National Peace Secretariat, the multi-party body dedicated to reducing violence and promoting dialogue during the tense run-up to the first democratic elections. As head of the division, he launched numerous ground-breaking media and youth projects across the country, which have since been replicated worldwide. Also, as a member of the Western Cape Peace Committee, Siebert was often called in to mediate and facilitate dialogue between conflicting parties. In 1994 Siebert co-founded the Media Peace Center, which designs and produces worldwide media projects supporting CPMR initiatives; they also launched Ubuntu Productions, an independent television and radio production company which produced more than 300 hours of television and radio programming for the SABC and other broadcasters. In the late ‘90s Siebert was a member of the World Economic Forum’s “Transitions to Peace” project on peacebuilding in South Africa, the Balkans, Northern Ireland and the Middle East. Since September 2000, creating another base in the U.S., Siebert has been an associate of the Center for War, Peace and the News Media at New York University, for which he initiated and coordinates the West-Dar al Islam Media Dialogues program – facilitating dialogue between major media institutions in the U.S. and Middle East (such as Fox News and Al-Jazeera Satellite Television). In launching the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation in the U.S., he has established partnerships between major U.S. software corporations to jointly develop Peace Tools -- a simple but comprehensive set of innovative, practical tools for mitigating and transforming conflict in all spheres and sectors -- in any part of the world.
Ron Slye
Ron Slye is associate professor of law at Seattle University School of Law. He teaches international law of human rights, poverty law, and public international law. From 1996-97 Slye was a visiting professor at the Community Law Centre at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. While there, he served as an advisor to South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Tove Strand
Tove Strand has served as Director General of The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) since 1997. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Strand was Director of the Department of Environment and Development at the Research Council of Norway.
A socio-economics graduate, she worked for some years at the Ministry of Finance before becoming Assistant Director General of the National Hospital of Norway in 1982. From 1986-89 she was Minister for Health and Social Affairs, and from 1990-92 Minister of Employment and Administration. She has also served as Project Coordinator and Senior Advisor at the Norwegian School of Management.
Robert Thomas
Robert Thomas is Dean of the College of Science at Wayne State University, teaching at Wayne State since 1964. He is one of Wayne State's most distinguished scientists. He and his colleagues pioneered the field of thermal wave imaging and materials characterization. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member Wayne State's Academy of Scholars.
Knut Vollebœk
Knut Vollebaek is the Norwegian ambassador to the United States and former Norwegian foreign minister. As head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation, he played a key negotiating role during the war in Kosovo. During this time, he had close relations with American political officials, in particular former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Vollebaek has previously been stationed in New Delhi, Madrid, Harare, as well as serving as Ambassador to Costa Rica. He also assisted Thorvald Stoltenberg in peace negotiations in the former Jugoslavia. In 2001, Vollebaek was appointed Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav by His Majesty King Harald V.
Tom Eric Vraalsen
In 1998 Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Tom Eric Vraalsen, who was serving as Ambassador of Norway to the United States, as his Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan. Ambassador Vraalsen joined the Norwegian Foreign Service in 1960 and has held a number of distinguished positions, including: Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1994-1996); Assistant Secretary-General of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry (1992); Minister of Development Cooperation (1989-1990); Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations (1982-1989); and Director-General of the Ministry's Department of Political Affairs (1981-1982). On the multilateral level, Ambassador Vraalsen has served as Vice-President of the General Assembly and as Chairman of its Fourth and First Committees.
Peter C.C. Wang
Peter Wang graduated from PLU in 1960 and later earned a Ph.D. in probablility theory at Wayne State University. The Wang Center opened in 2002 thanks to the generous gift of Peter and his wife Grace. With their endowment gift the Wangs have emphasized the role education can play in building a more peaceful world.
Roger P. Winter
USAID DCHA Assistant Administrator, United States Agency of International Development. Roger oversees the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance . The USAID addresses international disaster relief and program implementation including, but not limited, to humanitarian aid, warfare, and economic development. He has worked around the world, and has recently spent much of his time and focus in Sudan.
An An Wu
Wu An 'An is the Director of the Social Welfare Division for the Amity Foundation and serves of the Board of Advisors.
Wu An 'An has worked with the Amity Foundation since May of 1990. She is in charge of the Orphan Support Project.
She also heads up Amity's community-based rehabilitation projects and Special Education projects for children with disabilities. Her responsibilities include coordinating assistance for children who are mentally challenged, hearing impaired or victims of polio.
Wu An 'An holds a degree from Shanghai University. She has also received training in social work and child development from Birmingham University in the UK and Special Education training from Bristal University in the UK.