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Email Don Loranger
Phone: (406) 243-3610
Fax: (406) 543-6462

Don Loranger
Director, Defense Critical Language and Culture Program

  • Military Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, 1985-1986
  • Air War College, Maxwell AFB, 1982
  • Defense Language Institute (French), 1975
  • M.A. Michigan State University, International Affairs, 1974
  • B.A., The University of Montana, History and Political Science, 1966
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).

Phone: (406) 243-3605
Fax: (406) 543-6462

Hamidullah Azamy
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program Pashto Language Professor

  • B.S., Kabul University, Afghanistan
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.

Email Christopher Marlow
Phone: (406) 243-3613
Fax: (406) 543-6462

Christopher Marlow
Deputy Director, Administration and Finance Defense Critical Language and Culture Program

  • B.A., Humanities, The University of Montana, 2007
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 Owen Sirrs
Phone: (406) 243-3612
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 titledNasser and the Missile Age in the Middle East.

Email Terry Weidner
Phone: (406) 243-2281
Fax: (406) 243-2181

Terry Weidner
Adjunct Professor

  • 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.

Email Matt House
Phone: (406) 243-3603
Fax: (406) 543-6462

Matt House
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program Program Specialist

  • B.S., The University of Montana, Business Administration, 2006
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 Myong Hee Choi

Myong Hee Choi
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program Associate Professor

  • Ph.D., Linguistics, Georgetown University, 2009

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.

Name and Photo Withheld
Defense Critical Language/Culture Program

  • Pashto Instructor
 

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

  • Medical Science, Kabul Medical University, 2009
 

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

  • B.A. in International Studies & Political Science with focus on the Middle East/Islamic States, Ramapo College, New Jersey
  • M.A. Candidate, Political Science, The University of Montana
 

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

  • B.A. Political Science: International Relations and Comparative Politics
  • Fulbright Scholar
 

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.