Dr. Jonathan Scriven is the Associate Director of the WAU Honors College. He also heads the History and Political Studies department and teaches courses in American elections, International Relations, and US Foreign Policy. Scriven is the Director of the Center for Global Programs where he leads Model United Nations activities. He is also Co-Director of the Center for Law and Public Policy. Scriven also serves as an Inspecteur Délégué du partenaire for the American Section of the Baccalaureate Francais International (BFI). In this role he works closely with the French Ministry of Education on all aspects of the BFI.
Dr. Scriven graduated from Takoma Academy (’89) and went directly to Newbold College of Higher Education for his first year of college. During his sophomore year he attended Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) before returning to Newbold to finish the year. Scriven graduated with a degree in History and Economics from Andrews University in 1993.
Immediately after college Scriven worked as an intern in the Russia Division of the International Monetary Fund. In 1995 he began his work in the field of education and spent the next 7 years teaching at Spencerville Adventist Academy and Takoma Academy. It was during this time he received a Master’s Degree from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. While at Takoma Academy he founded Take Action, a club designed to help students get involved in local political issues. While doing volunteer work for the campaign of Chris Van Hollen’s run for the House of Representatives in 2002, Take Action led to more than 60 students from Takoma Academy and WAU participating in the campaign – most of the work being done in neighborhoods in Takoma Park. Scriven continues to be involved with (now) U.S. Senator Van Hollen’s political campaigns.
In 2007 Scriven and his family moved to France where he was a teacher of history and political economy at the Centre International de Valbonne. For the last five years he was Head of Humanities at the school. He was also the Director of the Model United Nations program on campus and has led several student trips to The Hague International Model United Nations conference (THIMUN) – the oldest and largest of the Model United Nations conferences in the world. After returning to WAU, he began taking Columbia Union Academy students to THIMUN and has done so for the past 6 years.
It was also during his time in France that Scriven completed his Doctoral studies in international relations at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations in Geneva, Switzerland. Scriven’s dissertation focused on US/Russian Economic Relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Scriven’s doctoral advisor – Dr. David Chikvaidze – was the chief communications advisor for Mikhail Gorbachev during the final years of the Soviet Union and is currently the Chief of Staff at the United Nations Office in Geneva.
Scriven is married to Kerri (Pitton) and they have three children – Patrick, Julia, and Henry. Jonathan enjoys sports, politics, traveling, and anything having to do with coffee.
EDUCATION
D. IR | The Geneval School of Diplomacy and International Relations (Geneva, Switzerland)
M.A. | The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
B.A. | Andrew University (Berrien Springs, MI)