Rowland M. Brucken

Dr. Brucken has acquired three academic areas of research and teaching since arriving at Norwich in 2001. As a diplomatic historian who has published a book and articles on the history of international human rights law, he teaches courses on prosecuting human rights abuses and genocide. His long interest in the history of race and racism in the United States led to team-teach courses on race and gender inequality in sports and generational wealth accumulation. His love of baseball since childhood was a catalyst for developing several classes on baseball history that are very popular on campus.

One of Dr. Brucken's core beliefs is applying academic insights and knowledge to tackling real-world challenges. He served for 20 years as Amnesty International USA's Zimbabwe Specialist, working with activists around the world to create safe spaces inside Zimbabwe for basic human rights protections. He testified in over four dozen asylum cases on behalf of Zimbabwean nationals fleeing persecution. He is currently chair of the board of Circle, which works to prevent and support victims of domestic and sexual violence and facilitate accountability groups of offenders. As a mediator and restorative justice practitioner for two decades, he has worked formally and informally to resolve local conflicts and has helped responsible and affected parties heal relationships.

He is married to Lisa, who is a professional academic advisor at Norwich, and has daughters and a stepchild. In his spare time, he runs long distances as a "retired" competitive ultramarathoner. He enjoys reading poetry and short stories, being outdoors in any kind of weather, and finding adventures with Lisa.

Ph.D. Diplomatic History, The Ohio State University
M.A. History, The Ohio State University
B.A. History, College of Wooster

HI 490/491 Independent Study; Honors Independent Study
HI 434 Senior Seminars on the Vietnam War; Genocide in the 20th Century
HI 432 Senior Seminar on the Cold War: Human Rights in Eastern Europe
HI 430 Senior Seminar on Prosecuting Human Rights Abuses
HI 371 Nation-Building in the Twentieth Century
HI 360 The U.S. in the 1960s
HI 360 U.S. Civil Rights Movements 1960-1980
HI 360 History of Racism in America
HI 360/PO 324 Team-Taught Class on Civil Liberties
HI 343 U.S. History, 1945 to present

A Most Uncertain Crusade: The United States, the United Nations, and Human Rights. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2014. [362 pages]

P. Bolcha, & R. M. Brucken (eds.), Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Rights. Organized in Prague on March 7–9, 2019, Anglo-American University, Czech Republic, Norwich University, Vermont, USA: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference. Prague: Anglo-American University. ISBN 978-80-906585-9-2.

“Conservative at Birth: The Creation and Paradoxes of U.S. Human Rights Policy during WWII” Human Rights Quarterly 39 (February 2017), 142-161.