Dan Wessner

“It is my deep gladness to weave together my Christian Anabaptist convictions of peace, justice, and compassion with visionary methods for international development, holistic learning, social change, and environmental conservation. We live in a paradoxical age – a world of profound suffering yet radical hope. Hence I am pleased to facilitate and enable learning among globally connected young scholars and practitioners of peace and justice, service and compassion.”

Daniel W. Wessner, professor of international and political studies, holds a B.A. in history and honors in humanities from Stanford University, a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in international studies from the University of Denver. His “blended learning” approach to educational development through FutureGenerations and the IC3 learning platform connects campuses and community-based studies in Peru, India, Nepal, Tibet, Iran and Vietnam. Dr. Wessner is ordained in the Mennonite Church USA and a member of the State Bar of California.

Ph.D., University of Denver
M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary
J.D., University of Virginia School of Law
B.A., Stanford University

• Inter-Cultural Communicative Competence, found at IC3 (2007)
  
• “Addressing Fundamentalism by Legal and Spiritual Means,” Human Rights & Human Welfare 57-76 (2003), found at http://www.du.edu/gsis/hrhw/volumes/2003/wessner-2003.pdf
  
• “Pacifist Pedagogy and the Bush Doctrine,” in Teaching Peace: Nonviolence and the Liberal Arts, eds. J. Denny Weaver and Gerald Biesecker-Mast (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), 147-63
  
• Monkey King and Sage: Hanoi’s Politics of Syncretism (University of Denver dissertation, 2001), under revision for publication
  
• “Perry Bush, Two Kingdoms, Two Loyalties: Mennonite Pacifism in Modern America, and Glen Stassen, ed., Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War,” The Conrad Grebel Review 18:2 (Spring 2000), 95-98
  
• “From Judge to Participant: The United States as Champion of Human Rights,” in Debating Human Rights, ed., Peter Van Ness (London: Routledge, 1999), 255-77
  
• “Two Movements with Limited Progress,” Program on International Peace and Security Newsletter (Chicago: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, May 1998), 13-15
  
• “From Judge to Participant: The United States as Champion of Human Rights,” Critical Asian Studies 28:2 (1996), 29-45
  
• “Floating to the Unknown,” Global Justice 1:2 (Summer 1995), 39-47
  
• “Denver Community Development through Edgar’s Eyes,” Global Justice 4:2 (Winter 1994), 36-39
  
• Stalemate, Not Checkmate: Inter-Religious Perspectives on the Gulf Crisis (Denver: Presbytery of Denver, 1990), 90-page study booklet on the impending U.S.-Iraq War
  
• “Outer Continental Shelf Revenue Sharing for Coastal States,” Virginia Journal of Natural Resources Law 3:131 (1983), 131-61

• Presenter, “Living Micah’s Vision,” Reimagining Academic Excellence Conference, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (13 October 2007)
  
• Co-Presenter with Cathy Smeltzer-Erb, “Assessing Inter-Cultural Communicative Competence (IC3) through Action Research,” Annual Meeting, American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL (9 April 2007)
  
• Presenter, “Engaging People in Post-Conflict Transformation,” Transitional Justice: Reconciliation and Apology in Post-Conflict Rebuilding, International Studies Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL (2 March 2007)
  
• Discussant, “Promoting International Affairs in Education in China: The Roles of Domestic Public Policy and International Exchange,” International Studies Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL (1 March 2007)
  
• Presenter/Chair, “Engaging People in Transitional, Transforming Societies and States,” Peacebuilding and Trauma Recovery: Integrated Strategies in Post-War Reconstruction, University of Denver, Denver, CO (23 February 2007)
  
• Chair/Discussant, “Approaches to Post Conflict Transitions: Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation,” International Studies Association Annual Convention, San Diego, CA (24 March 2006)
  
• Presenter, “Holistic Engineering for International Development,” Engineers without Borders, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (12-13 November 2005)
  
• Presenter, “Globalization and Education: Pedagogies of Peace and Justice for a World without Borders,” Justice and Mercy Shall Kiss: A Conference on the Vocation of Peacemaking in a World of Many Faiths, The Lilly Endowment and Marquette University (23 September 2005)
  
• Discussant on Roundtable, “Strategies for Overcoming Cynicism,” International Studies Association Annual Conference, Honolulu, HI (4 March 2005)
  
• Presenter, “Embodied Processes of Truth Telling: An Educational and Development Agenda for Intercultural Communication,” World Parliament of Religions, Barcelona, Spain (9 July 2004)
  
• Discussant, “Teaching International Law in a Time of War,” International Studies Association Annual Convention, Montreal, Quebec (19 March 2004)
  
• Presenter/Chair, “Venues and Ethics of Intercultural Communicative Competence,” International Conference on Religion and Globalization, Chiang Mai, Thailand (1 August 2003)
  
• Presenter, “State-Societal Art: Lenses for Local, Regional, and Global Interpretation and Integration,” International Studies Association Annual Convention, Portland, OR (28 February 2003)
  
• Discussant, “Theories of War,” International Studies Association Annual Convention, Portland, OR (27 February 2003)
  
• Presenter, “A Christian Realist Response to War and Beyond: The Niebuhr-Yoder Debate of the 1960s to the Present,” Symposium on Religion and Politics, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (3 May 2002)
  
• Presenter, “The Translation/Compassion Gap: Mutually Constituting Boundaries and Identities in the Red River Delta and Washington Beltway,” International Studies Association Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA (27 March 2002)
  
• Lecturer, “Peace Theology and International Law,” Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (14 January 2002)
  
• Presenter, “Unjust History, Unwise Prescriptions: A ‘Critical Oral History’ of the American-Vietnam War,” International Studies Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL (22 February 2001)
  
• Discussant on Roundtable, “War, Violence and Transnational Theology,” Carnegie Council on Ethics & International Affairs Colloquium, New York, NY (2-4 December 1999)
  
• Presenter, “Post-War Reconstruction of Village, Party, and State in Hanoi’s Culture of Politics,” Rebuilding War-Torn Civil Societies, Academic Council of the United Nations System Annual Meeting, United Nations, New York, NY (18 June 1999)
  
• Discussant, “Sovereignty, Legitimacy and State Sufficiency,” States in Crisis, States in Flux: Processes of Reconfiguration, SSRC-MacArthur Foundation Summer Institute, Antigua, Guatemala (24-26 May 1998)
  
• Presenter, “One Party, Many Faces: Vietnam’s Political Process,” SSRC-MacArthur Fellows’ Conference, San Salvador, El Salvador (17-23 May 1998)
  
• Presenter, “Aligning Adversaries,” Regionalization and Globalization: The Impact of External Actors in Vietnam’s Development,” Institute for International Relations, Hanoi, Vietnam (23-30 March 1998)
  
• Presenter, “The Impact of U.S.-Vietnamese Relations on Doi Moi_ Renovation,” Vietnam-U.S. Workshop, Asia Foundation and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hanoi, Vietnam (20-22 March 1998)
  
• Presenter, “The Role of State and Non-State Actors in Global Governance,” ACUNS/ASIL Summer Workshop, Brown University (28 July – 7 August 1997)
  
• Presenter/Chair, “International Law and Human Rights,” Forum on Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos, Columbia University, New York, NY (6 June 1995)
  
• Presenter, “The Role of NGOs in East Asian Development,” International Seminar on Local Social Development Theory and Research, University of Denver, Denver, CO (25 March 1995)

• Researcher, examining IC3 and Blended Learning pedagogies in twelve linked countries/communities of scholar-practitioners (2005-present)
  
• California Bar Association (1983-present)
  
• International Studies Association (2001-present): Chair of Peace Studies Section (2008-2009), Program Chair of Peace Studies (2006-2007); Executive Committee Member of Peace Studies (2004-2005); and Member of International Law, Global Development, and International Education sections (2001-present)
  
• Ordained Clergy: Mennonite Church USA (1996-2007); Presbyterian Church USA (1990-1996); pulpit supply in Mennonite, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist, and other denominations; year-long adult study of parables, Park View Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VA (2006); guest lecturer on “Christians and the Political Order,” Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN (February-May 2002); youth minister intern, East Central United Ministries, Presbyterian Church USA, Bergenfield, NJ (1986-1987)
  
• Long-term service assignments: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation – Institute for International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hanoi, Vietnam (1996-1998); Mennonite Central Committee and Presbyterian Church USA – University of Can Tho, Vietnam (1990-1993); Volunteers in Asia – Stanford University, Northeast University, Shenyang (1984-1985) and Kunming Institute of Technology, Kunming, People’s Republic of China (1985-1986)
  
• Juror, Human Rights and Religion, 4th Annual International Conference on Human Rights, Center for Human Rights Studies, Mofid University, Qom, Iran (2007)
  
• Public forums: “Free Speech, Institutional Speech,” Eastern Mennonite University (1 April 2008), “Sweet Lemons: Mennonites and Iranians Relate,” Eastern Mennonite University (29 January 2008), “War with Iraq,” Pettit College of Law, Ohio Northern University (18 October 2002); “9/11 and Beyond,” Bluffton College (11 September 2002); “McNamara’s Quest and U.S.-Vietnamese Relations,” University of Denver (27 August 1997); “International Law and Human Rights,” Forum on Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos, Columbia University (3-6 June 1995)
  
• Convener of workshops and forums: “IC3 Analysis of 1st-Year Implementation,” An Giang University, Long Xuyen, Vietnam (6-11 August 2007); “Faculty College – Professor as Sherpa,” Future Generations, North Mountain, WV (11-13 June 2007); “Engaging People in Peacebuilding,” Pre-International Studies Association Annual Convention (27 February 2007); “IC3 Launch and Action Research,” An Giang University, Long Xuyen, Vietnam (23-27 June 2006); “Holistic Engineering for International Development,” Engineers without Borders, University of Colorado Chapter, Boulder, CO (12-13 November 2005); “JustPeace,” United Church of Christ, Peace Conference, Northport, MI (11-12 June 2005); “IC3 Going to Scale,” Faculty Upgrading, An Giang University, Long Xuyen, Vietnam (9-14 May 2005); “Bending Bamboo,” Faculty Upgrading, An Giang University, Long Xuyen, Vietnam (11-25 May, 2003); “Building Cultures of Peace,” Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship of Mennonite Colleges, Bluffton University, Bluffton, OH (21-22 February 2003); “9/11 and Beyond,” Services of Reflection, Education and Praxis, Bluffton University, Bluffton, OH (11 September 2002); “Inter-Cultural Communicative Competence,” Faculty Upgrading, An Giang University, Long Xuyen, Vietnam (29 June – 6 July 2002); “Communicative Approach and ICC,” Faculty Upgrading, An Giang University, Long Xuyen, Vietnam (30 July – 17 August 2001); “Collaboration in Crisis: States and INGOs at Regional, National and Local Levels,” Oxfam NGO Training Project, Hanoi, Vietnam (22-29 September 1998); “The Role of State and Non-State Actors in Development,” Oxfam NGO Training Project, Hanoi, Vietnam (6-7 April 1998)
  
• Panel participant and paper presenter: “Faith-based Approach to Community Development” and “Inter-Cultural Communicative Competence,” International Rural Development Conference, Messiah College (24 February 2007); “IC3 – An EMU Online Learing Platform to Augment Courses across Disciplines,” EMU Faculty and Staff Workshops (4 May 2006); “IC3 as Anabaptist Pedagogy,” Anabaptist Education Initiative, Chevy Chase, MD (22 September 2005); “Christ-shaped Ethics in International Development,” 95th Annual Virginia Mennonite Conference Assembly, Richmond, VA (29 July 2005); “Small State Economic Development in the Sweep of Globalization,” Bluffton College Colloquium Series (24 January 2003); “Critically Embodied Studies: A Non-Violent Methodology in Development and Political Anthropology,” Teaching Non-Violence Across the Curriculum, Bluffton College (28 October 2000)
  
• Contributor to church periodicals: “Hanoi’s Civil Society of Syncretism,” Peace Office Newsletter (Mennonite Central Committee) 33:1 (January-March 2003); “An Interdisciplinary Peace Pedagogy: Critically Embodied Studies,” Anabaptist-Mennonite Scholars (Toronto School of Theology) 5:1 (June 2002), 6-10; “Vietnam Comes Full Circle,” Areopagus (Hong Kong: Tao Fong Shan) 7:1 (1994); “Demilitarizing and Developing an Oil-rich South China Sea,” Peace Office Newsletter (Mennonite Central Committee) 24:4 (July-August 1994), 3-4; “Lift Out Embargo Against Vietnam,” Washington Report to Presbyterians (Presbyterian Church USA) 15-6 (November-December 1993), 5-6; “Lanterns and Stickers in the Mekong Delta,” Horizons (Presbyterian Church USA) 6:2 (March/April 1993), 18; “Hong Anh’s Mother and Ivan,” Christian Living 40:1 (January/February 1993), 31-32; Stalemate, Not Checkmate: Inter-Religious Perspective on the Gulf Crisis, Presbytery of Denver (1990), 90-page study booklet for faith communities examining the impending U.S.-Iraq War
  
• Community Service: Advisory Board, Friendship Bridge, NGO in Vietnam and Guatemala (1996-2001); Board Member, Mennonite Urban Ministries (1995-1996); Women’s Bean Project, Denver (1994-1996); Co-Moderator, International Justice Subcommittee, Presbytery of Denver (1994-1996)

• Grantee. IC3 Writing and Implementation, Lilly Endowment on Sustaining the Theological Exploration of Vocation (2007-2010)
  
• Grantee with Future Generations. Engaging People in Peacebuilding in Countries of Rising Instability and Post-Conflict Rebuilding, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Program on International Peace and Security (2006-2008)
  
• Distinguished Alumnus and Graduation Speaker. Glenbrook South High School, Glenview, IL (2006)
  
• Distinguished Scholar in Residence and Adjunct Professor of International Law. Pettit College of Law, Ohio Northern University (2002-2004)
  
• Grantee. Dissertation Fellow, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, SSRC Fellowship on Peace and Security in a Changing World (1996-1998)
  
• Grantee. Nancy Petry – IIE for Language Studies, Hanoi National University (1995)
  
• Josef Korbel Prize. Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver (1995)
  
• Friar Club Award for Academic and Community Service. Princeton Theological Seminary (1990)
  
• Model Teacher Award. Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China (1985)
  
• Besser-Lindsey Award for Academics, Community Service and Athletics. Stanford University (1979)
  
• Team Captain and Most Valuable Player. Varsity Gymnastics, Stanford University (1978-1979)
  
• Fairclough Prize in Classical Literature. Stanford University (1976)

• Member, California Bar Association
• Clergy Mennonite Church USA

• Member, California Bar Association (1984-present)
• Clergy, Mennonite Church USA (1996-present)
• Member, International Studies Association (2001-present)
• Academic Council of the United Nations System (1998-2006)

• Reimagining Academic Excellence Conference, Grand Rapids, MI (13 October 2007)
  
• International Studies Association Annual Convention: San Francisco (2008), Chicago (2007), San Diego (2006), Honolulu (2005), Montreal (2004), Portland (2003), New Orleans (2002), Chicago (2001)
  
• American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (9 April 2007)
  
• Peacebuilding and Trauma Recovery: Integrated Strategies in Post-War Reconstruction, University of Denver, Denver, CO (22-24 February 2007)
  
• International Rural Development Conference, Messiah College, Grantham, PA (24 February 2007)
  
• People Power and Pedagogy, International Center for Nonviolent Conflict, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO (4-7 June 2006)
  
• Youth and Conflict in States at Risk, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. (17 May 2006)
  
• Women and Change in States at Risk, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. (1 May 2006)
  
• Rule of Law and Judicial Reform in Post-Conflict Rwanda, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. (18 January 2006)
  
• Justice and Mercy Will Kiss: A Conference on the Vocation of Peacemaking in a World of Many Faiths, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI (21-23 September 2005)
  
• World Parliament of Religions, Barcelona, Spain (5-9 July 2004)
  
• International Conference on Religion and Globalization, Chiang Mai, Thailand (27 July – 1 August 2003)
  
• Symposium on Religion and Politics, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (3 May 2002)
  
• War, Violence and Transnational Theology, Carnegie Council on Ethics & International Affairs, New York, NY (2-4 December 1999)
  
• The New European Security Agenda, SSRC-MacArthur Fellows’ Conference, Oxford, England (18-23 May 1996)
  
• Forum on Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos, Columbia University, New York, NY (3-6 June 1995)
  
• International Seminar on Local Social Development Theory and Research, University of Denver, Denver, CO (25-26 March 1995)

Most of the new courses that I have developed at Eastern Mennonite University over the past three years complement the newly designed Pre-Law Minor and the pre-existing Political Studies Minor. These courses include: Constitutional Issues; Human Rights and Dignity; Law, Values and Worldview; Pre-Law Internship; and several upper-level History courses on Vietnam, the Middle/Near East (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Israel), and Latin America.

• Committee Work: Cross-Cultural Committee (2007-present); Faculty Scholarship Committee (2005-2008); Committee for Center for the Study of Abrahamic Traditions (2006-present); Committee for Living Micah’s Vision (2006-2007); Advisory Council for Justice, Peace and Conflict Studies (2004-2008)
  
• Faculty Advisor; Res Judicata, EMU student law society (2006-present); PeaceFellowship (2005-present)
  
• Foreign Film Series coordinator, linking EMU with campuses in Iran, Vietnam, India, and across the United States (2004-2007)