Even erudite flies get smashed now and then for sounding too ‘school smart’. As one of many AU students not immersed in an academic social sphere, Jason’s ‘Fly on the Wall’ column seeks to aid and abet the success of others in his cohort. We won’t always be understood when we speak of what we are learning in school but we can rest assured that our education still has value.
His lighthearted approach to sociological philosophy stems from conducting field research at bush parties and working his day job reforesting the mountains of BC. Born in the city of Vancouver and raised on a farm in the Fraser Valley and an orchard in the Okanagan, he attained a diploma in Horticulture in the Creston Valley and then returned to school as a Sociology major. Today’s he’s an AU Master’s of Integrated Studies student who spends his spare time enjoying nature walks, snorkeling and reading whatever philosophical and sociological tracts capture his fancy.
Jason is fascinated with the micro-sociological thoughts and interactions that frame and demarcate our experience of daily life as well as the philosophical realm considering essential questions about what it is to be a human. It’s dense brush but Jason seeks answers where murkiness holds sway.
A Few Theoretical Influences: Louis Althusser, Isaac Asimov, Jean Baudrillard, Simone de Beauvoir, Aime Cesaire, Carol Clover, John Cummings, Kurt Cobain, Jacques Derrida, Emile Durkheim, Michel Foucault, Erving Goffman, Antonio Gramsci, Martin Heidegger, Thomas Hobbes, Agnes Martin, Karl Marx, Georg Simmel, Max Weber
When Robin Williams passed away five years ago many of us sensed that one of the loneliest people on earth had departed. His epic line, that “I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people… Read more »
Like an enemy repeatedly coming back to life, the fact remains that even our best academic efforts are no guarantee of success. Putting in the study time, like doing good works seeking heaven, may not guarantee us a happy ending. And that’s scary! Scary too is the fact that learning itself is dependent upon approval… Read more »
It’s a dark and stormy night and you’re cowering under layers of distraction. Your motivation quivers and clings to life as your coursework sits undone. Fearful that the academic gods will punish you for lack of effort, you hide yourself away until the horror of procrastination passes. But wait! A deeper fear grips you; what… Read more »
One course that helped me overcome academic anxiety was PHIL 360: East Meets West. In it I learned to keep calm and appreciate and cherish all of life’s moments, including angst-filled moments of deadlines. Writing the final assignment, I’d pause and really taste the words of assigned authors such as Aldous Huxley. His book Island… Read more »
Tick tock. Hear that? It’s the mounting clamour of approaching deadlines. Time slips inexorably past, and with dire consequences, when we are trying to study. It’s unsettling, to say the least. Sometimes the best thing to do in the face of worry is to relax and loosen our grip on time. While I’ll be the… Read more »
Are you with your learning or against it, or both? Each instance of thinking about a topic requires us to enter into a dancing rhythm. We aren’t just being filled up as we’re becoming educated; at AU we are learning how to make our minds flexible. Creativity depends upon the adoption of new approaches and… Read more »
A little perspective never hurts; autumn can be a great time to take stock of our lives. As a kid, I’d look over my shoulder this time of year and long for summer’s return. Now that new teachers and schoolwork had lost their vague thrilling pangs (like the sensation of walking barefoot on smooth gravel,… Read more »
Especially in September, when the somber weight of fall falls on our hearts, it helps to position ourselves rationally when we think about the forging forth in our studies. At AU we are bettering our ephemeral essences, but we are also aiding our ambitious drive for a better income and a more stable economic life. … Read more »
September brings apprehension and ambivalence to students of all ages. Whether our classroom days are four or forty years hence the creeping shadows of autumn re-stimulate memories of that dreaded return to school. Our formative years were divided, as if with a paper cutter, every September; a whoosh of a sucking sound vacated our spirits… Read more »
Fill in the blank quiz questions can be a breeze or a bummer. Like multiple choice, they leave little margin for error or ambiguity. There seems to be no room to elaborate or hedge one’s bets by fluffing up an answer to cover as much terrain as feels right. So, with that in mind, inevitably… Read more »