Mike Klein, Ed.D., holds the Clinical Faculty position in Justice and Peace Studies. His work combines classroom teaching, campus and community education, and leadership development. His interests are wide-ranging and include: social movements, art in social justice, effective and ethical leadership for social change, and the intersection of ritual and democratic practice. His undergraduate degrees are in studio arts and theology and his Masters work is in education with an emphasis on service-learning.

Prior to beginning this role in 2009, Mike served as a Leadership Consultant for the Wilder Foundation’s Neighborhood Leadership Program. He was a 2007 recipient of the Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship, completing his doctoral research on ritualizing leadership for democratic decision-making and action. From 2002-2007, Mike served as the Social Justice Vocation Instructor and Leadership Coordinator in Justice and Peace Studies, funded by a grant from the Lilly Foundation. In this antecedent to his current position, he taught two courses – Introduction to Justice and Peace Studies, and Social Movements and Methods – in addition to directing internships, and advising an activist group called the Student Coalition for Social Justice (now Students for Justice and Peace). Previously, he worked in Campus Ministry to direct VISION service trips throughout the US, Central America, and the Caribbean, and local VIA volunteer teams.

Mike has developed a series of courses around student service trips such as: A VISION of Civil Rights with a trip to Selma, Alabama; and A VISION of Native Lands with a trip to White Earth Reservation, Minnesota hosted by Winona LaDuke. He also developed the University’s 2004-2007 affiliation with PeaceJam International that annually invited Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to a weekend conference with several hundred high school youth from Minnesota and nearby states, and college student mentors.

A muralist specializing in community-based projects, Mike has worked with participants in boxing and African dance programs, a youth farm project, a multi-cultural immigrant community, alternative high school students, a crisis nursery, and a food program for those with HIV AIDS.

Mike wrote a section on service-learning for the The Guide to Successful Short-term Programs Abroad (NAFSA publications, 2002); contributed stories and poetry to Leadership Through Story (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007); published an article entitled Peace Education and Paulo Freire’s Method (Convergence, 2007); and his editorial letters and essays have been published nationally by Common Dreams, and locally in the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press and Villager. Mike has also been recognized with several awards for service-learning and was named a Faculty Fellow for Peace Studies by Minnesota Campus Compact in 2000.