Office Hours is a series focusing on unique artifacts that BYU employees display in their offices.
At first glance, Eric Jensen’s office looks like a greenhouse, filled with plants that he has kept alive for years. But when you look a little closer, you see pieces of his personal history scattered throughout the leaves.
Eric T. Jensen is a professor of law, specializing in public international, armed conflict and national security law as well as cyber warfare. His classes on these topics are fueled by his experiences in the military and other government positions.
Many artifacts in his office, like these Liverpool soccer figurines, come from past international students that have shared their culture with him or small interests he has picked up through the years. Other interesting memorabilia connects to his time as a counsel to the Department of Defense Special Counsel and his time in Iraq as the deputy legal advisor for all the U.S. Forces in Baghdad.
“[My prior training] gives me a chance to share practical experience. I’m still connected with the government… so I’m able to share up-to-date experiences that are helpful for students,” explained Professor Jensen.
Professor Jensen’s current passion and research project is to analyze peace, something that President Russell M. Nelson’s talk “Peacemakers Needed,” inspired him to do. He is collaborating with students to categorize different aspects of peace negotiations that have occurred since World War II.
While he has loved the steps along his career, including the time spent in the military and at another university, he finds unique joy in working with BYU students specifically because of the connections they are able to make between international law and the gospel. He is fascinated by how much they intertwine.
“I think our role is to be a light to the whole world—not just as a church, but as a country… International law is a key part of that,” said Professor Jensen.
