Peter W. Van Arsdale

Last updated
Peter W. Van Arsdale
Peter Van Arsdale.jpg
Nationality American
Alma mater University of Colorado Boulder (Ph.D.), (B.A.) University of Maryland (M.A.)
Known for Humanitarianism
Scientific career
Fields Human rights
Applied anthropology
International development
Institutions Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver (retired)

Peter W. Van Arsdale is an American academic who retired as director of African Initiatives at the University of Denver, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, where he also served as Senior Lecturer. He previously served as a senior researcher for eCrossCulture Corporation, based in Colorado. An applied cultural anthropologist, he has worked in E. Africa, S.E. Asia, the Balkans, Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America, emphasizing community water resources, human rights, refugee resettlement, and humanitarian intervention. He is a noted author, journal editor, and former president of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology and known analytically for his “tree of rights” [1] and his “theory of obligation.” [2] He is co-founder of The Denver Hospice, and co-discoverer in 1974 of a band of previously uncontacted Citak people [3] in Indonesian New Guinea. Since 1979, he has been a fellow of The Explorers Club. He currently serves as Affiliate Faculty Member (pro bono) at Regis University. Since 2006, his book Forced to Flee has been a best-seller in the refugee field. [4]

Contents

Career

With a background in psychology, Van Arsdale earned his doctorate in applied and cultural anthropology from the University of Colorado - Boulder. His doctoral research was conducted in Irian Jaya (now Papua), Indonesia, in 1973/1974 on issues of socio-economic and socio-political change. His dissertation was published as a book in 1975. During that period of field work, he also co-led the Citak expedition. [5]

On both a full- and part-time basis, he worked at the University of Denver through 2020. He served first in the Department of Anthropology (one year as chair), and from 1980 through 2020 at the Graduate School of International Studies (now Josef Korbel School of International Studies). There, he was co-developer of both the Program in Humanitarian Assistance and the Project Bosnia service learning program. Van Arsdale has twice served as Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal The Applied Anthropologist. From 2008 to 2010 he was the chair of the Committee on Human Rights & Social Justice of the Society for Applied Anthropology.

Outside of academe, from 1986 through 1994 he served as program specialist for Refugee, Immigrant, and American Indian Issues at the Colorado Division of Mental Health; immediately thereafter, he served as head of Program Evaluation for the Colorado Mental Health Institute - Fort Logan. During this period, he was co-developer of the division’s refugee and immigrant program; co-developer of the World Federation for Mental Health’s national plan for collaborative refugee and immigrant resource centers; and co-developer of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology/Society for Applied Anthropology’s national training guidelines for applied anthropologists.

In 1978, Van Arsdale co-founded the Hospice of Metro Denver (now The Denver Hospice), which has grown into the largest hospice in the Rocky Mountain region. He also co-founded the region’s first institution specializing in psychological, legal and social service care for asylum seekers and other refugees: the Rocky Mountain Survivors Center (which provided services to traumatized persons through 2009). He has served as an expert witness/analyst in cases involving Sudanese, Ethiopian and Bosnian asylum seekers, and, as a consultant on related human rights abuses. [6] Independently, he co-founded the Axum (Ethiopia) - Denver (Colorado) Sister City Program.

He has worked in a number of countries worldwide: Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Bosnia, Romania, Israel, Palestine, Peru, Chile, Guyana, El Salvador, Haiti and the United States. Often featuring refugee issues, his applied research and community outreach have engaged topics involving resource development, human rights, mental health, and humanitarianism. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] More recently, he has worked on humanitarian issues at the military-civilian interface. [12] In 2016, through LTG Associates, he assisted in evaluating a human-centered design program for NASA. Several current projects, through Rotary International, involve East Africa. His most recent book (2022) is Encounters: 50 Fascinating Strangers from My Life on the Road.

Awards

In 1995, Van Arsdale was recognized as the Outstanding Professor at what is now called the Josef Korbel School. In 2002, he was recipient of the Omer C. Stewart Memorial Award for contributions to applied anthropology. [13] More recently (in 2013), he was elected to the Arvada West (Colorado) Hall of Fame [14] and (through Rotary International, District 5450) in 2021 was recognized for work on water and sanitation systems. In 2008, Van Arsdale received the "Voice for the Voiceless" award for his work on behalf of refugees, and in 2017 he received the "Kujali" award for his work on behalf of hospice, in the U.S. and Tanzania. [15] In 1965, as a high school senior, he set the Colorado record for the one mile run (4:25.1).

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeleine Albright</span> American diplomat (1937–2022)

Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman to hold that post.

Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives. It is one of the most highly developed areas of anthropology and applied anthropology, and is a subfield of social and cultural anthropology that examines the ways in which culture and society are organized around or influenced by issues of health, health care and related issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthropologist</span> Person with an extensive knowledge of anthropology

An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values, and general behavior of societies. Linguistic anthropology studies how language affects social life, while economic anthropology studies human economic behavior. Biological (physical), forensic and medical anthropology study the biological development of humans, the application of biological anthropology in a legal setting and the study of diseases and their impacts on humans over time, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korowai people</span> Indigenous ethnic group of Indonesia

The Korowai, also called the Kolufo, live in southeastern Papua in the Indonesian provinces of South Papua and Highland Papua. Their tribal area is split by the borders of Boven Digoel Regency, Mappi Regency, Asmat Regency, and Yahukimo Regency. They number about 4000 to 4400 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josef Korbel</span> Czech-American diplomat (1909–1977)

Josef Korbel was a Czech-American diplomat and political scientist. During his public career, he served as Czechoslovakia's ambassador to Yugoslavia and was the country's representative to the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan, serving as its chair. After settling down in the United States, Korbel became a professor of international politics at the University of Denver, where he founded the Graduate School of International Studies, which was later named after him, and served as its first dean.

Applied anthropology is the practical application of anthropological theories, methods, and practices to the analysis and solution of practical problems. The term was first put forward by Daniel G. Brinton in his paper "The Aims of Anthropology". John Van Willengen defined applied anthropology as "anthropology put to use". Applied anthropology includes conducting research with a primary or tertiary purpose to solve real-world problems in areas such as public health, education, government, and business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyal S. Sunga</span> International law expert

Lyal S. Sunga is a well-known specialist on international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law.

The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) is a worldwide organization for the Applied Social Sciences, established "to promote the integration of anthropological perspectives and methods in solving human problems throughout the world; to advocate for fair and just public policy based upon sound research; to promote public recognition of anthropology as a profession; and to support the continuing professionalization of the field." Members include academic as well as practicing and applied anthropologists. The Society is unique among professional associations in membership and purpose – and in representing the interests of professionals in a wide range of settings including academia, business, law, public health, medicine, environment, and government. The unifying factor is a commitment to making an impact on the quality of life in the world. The Society publishes two journals: Human Organization and Practicing Anthropology. The SfAA was founded in 1941 and has maintained its status as an important resource for practicing and academic anthropologists alike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Rutherford (political scientist)</span> American political scientist

Kenneth R. Rutherford is the co-founder of the Survivor Corps, a group that helps the victims of war, and an American researcher in the field of political science. He is also a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which was the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Rutherford has served as the Director of the James Madison University Center for International Stabilization and Recovery, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania (1987-1989), a UNHCR Emergency Refugee Coordinator in Senegal (1989), and a humanitarian emergency relief officer in northern Kenya and Somalia (1993). In 2024, Rutherford taught at Hue University in Vietnam as a Fulbright Scholar Fellow.

Nancy Scheper-Hughes is an anthropologist, educator, and author. She is the Chancellor's Professor Emerita of Anthropology and the director and co-founder of the PhD program in Critical Medical Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is known for her writing on the anthropology of the body, hunger, illness, medicine, motherhood, psychiatry, psychosis, social suffering, violence and genocide, death squads, and human trafficking.

The Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver is a professional school of international affairs offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. It is named in honor of the founding dean, Josef Korbel, father of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Ball</span> American software programmer

Patrick Ball is a scientist who has spent thirty years conducting quantitative analysis for truth commissions, non-governmental organizations, international criminal tribunals, and United Nations missions in El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, South Africa, Chad, Sri Lanka, East Timor, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Kosovo, Liberia, Peru, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Syria. As director of research at Human Rights Data Analysis Group, he assists human rights defenders by conducting scientific and statistical analysis of large-scale human rights abuses. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University, and his doctorate from the University of Michigan.

Tom Farer, is an American academic, author and former president of the University of New Mexico. Since ending his tenure at New Mexico in 1986, Farer served as dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver from 1996 to 2010. He is currently a university professor of international relations at the Josef Korbel School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Baer</span> American politician and former diplomat

Daniel Brooks Baer is an American politician and former diplomat from Colorado currently serving as Senior Vice President for Policy Research at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Baer served in the Obama administration's State Department, first as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor from 2009 to 2013, and then as United States Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe from 2013 to 2017. In 2018, Governor John Hickenlooper appointed Baer as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education.

Pardis Mahdavi is an American scholar and former president of University of La Verne. Previously, she was the provost and executive vice president of the University of Montana, the dean of social sciences at Arizona State University, acting dean of Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and the dean of women and chair of anthropology at Pomona College.

Micheline R. Ishay is an American political theorist known for her work in international relations and the history of human rights. She is professor of international studies and human rights at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, where she serves as director of the International Human Rights Program and was executive director of the Center on Rights Development (1993-2011). In 2008, she was named the University of Denver Distinguished Scholar, and she is an affiliate faculty member with the Center for Middle East Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Fraser</span> American rights activist (1928–2011)

Virginia H. Fraser was an American activist for human rights, women's rights, and elder rights. She was the Long-Term Care Ombudsman for the state of Colorado for more than two decades. She co-wrote several works on nursing home care and eldercare. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Panter-Brick</span> Medical anthropologist

Catherine Panter-Brick is the Bruce A. and Davi-Ellen Chabner Professor of Anthropology, Health, and Global Affairs at Yale University, where she directs the Program on Conflict, Resilience, and Health and the Program on Stress and Family Resilience. She is also the senior editor of the interdisciplinary journal Social Science & Medicine and the President-Elect of the Human Biology Association. She serves as Head of Morse College, one of Yale’s 14 residential colleges, and is Chair of the Council of Heads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reactions to the Tigray war</span> Global reactions to the Tigray War

The events of the Tigray War have sparked numerous reactions and protests worldwide.

References

  1. ↑ Institute for the Development of Gifted Education (2012). Teacher Compendium for Human Rights Education. Denver: University of Denver. pp. 55–56. ISBN   978-0984853137.
  2. ↑ Nockerts, Regina; Van Arsdale, Peter (May 2008). "A Theory of Obligation". Journal of Humanitarian Assistance.
  3. ↑ Van Arsdale, Peter (May 2024). "First Contact: 50th Anniversary Report". Expedition News. 30 (5): 3–4.
  4. ↑ Van Arsdale, Peter W. (2006). Forced to flee: human rights and human wrongs in refugee homelands. Program in migration and refugee studies. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books. ISBN   978-0-7391-1233-5. OCLC   65165340.
  5. ↑ Mitton, Robert (1983). The Lost World of Irian Jaya. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. pp. 136–157. ISBN   0195543688.
  6. ↑ Dukakis, Andrea. "Trial of Ethiopian Immigrant Highlights Country's Dark Past". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  7. ↑ Davis, Carolyn (November 10, 2010). "Haitians brought to Phila. area for quake care found themselves adrift". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Cardona, Felisa (March 2, 2012). "Fears of terrorists exploiting refugee program lead to tighter security checks". The Denver Post. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Bunch, Joey (July 26, 2013). "Denver metro area home to 30,000 Ethiopians, Eritreans". The Denver Post. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  10. ↑ Finley, Bruce; McGhee, Tom (October 20, 2013). "How an Ethiopian torturer hid in Denver for 7 years in plain sight". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Painter, Kristen Leigh (March 2, 2014). "Caught between the two Sudans". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  12. ↑ Van Arsdale, Peter (2013). "The Danger of 'Culture' and the Value of Sociocultural Systems: Helping Forcibly Displaced Populations move toward Stability". In Strong, Beret E.; Brooks Babin, LisaRe; Zbylut, Michelle Ramsden; Roan, Linda (eds.). Sociocultural Systems: The Next Step in Army Cultural Capability. Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas: U.S. Army Research Institute. pp. 199–214. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Van Arsdale, Peter (Fall 2002). "Awareness, Action, Advocacy: Mobilizing a Paradigm, Tackling an Issue, Making a Difference" (PDF). High Plains Applied Anthropologist. 22 (2): 119–124. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  14. ↑ Weltzer, Louis (August 29, 2013). "Arvada West hall-of-fame alumni chosen". The Denver Post.
  15. ↑ "Denver Hospice Honors Peter Van Arsdale". University of Denver. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  16. ↑ Online Classes. "100 Best Books for Humanitarians". Online Classes. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.