| Joakim, Curriculum Vitae |
Teaching Creed:
I am a philosophy professor. From my perspective, the goal of humanities courses is to make students better humans. Humans are the thinkers of the animal kingdom. To me, what is unique about humans is our ability to philosophize: to think carefully and critically about everything in life including death. Teaching philosophy is unique because I am trying to teach students how to examine their views on reality and how to examine reality itself both in light of their personal experiences and independent of their personal perspective. Philosophy courses are essential to one’s education because by learning to ask the relevant questions and to appropriately question answers, students gain tools applicable to any class or career. I teach philosophy because I care about how people think and I care how educators teach people how to think. Each day I walk into the classroom (or log into it) is a gift. I cannot see myself doing anything more fulfilling with my time or more useful with my skills. I strengthen my student’s cognitive capacities and forge in them a habit of examining their lives. I measure my teaching effectiveness by the patterns that surface in my course evaluations. I ask for anonymous midterm evaluations and I treat this feedback from students as seriously as what they indicate on the school’s evaluations. When students report having learned not only about the subject matter but also about themselves, I know I have succeeded as a professor in the humanities.
I am a philosophy professor. From my perspective, the goal of humanities courses is to make students better humans. Humans are the thinkers of the animal kingdom. To me, what is unique about humans is our ability to philosophize: to think carefully and critically about everything in life including death. Teaching philosophy is unique because I am trying to teach students how to examine their views on reality and how to examine reality itself both in light of their personal experiences and independent of their personal perspective. Philosophy courses are essential to one’s education because by learning to ask the relevant questions and to appropriately question answers, students gain tools applicable to any class or career. I teach philosophy because I care about how people think and I care how educators teach people how to think. Each day I walk into the classroom (or log into it) is a gift. I cannot see myself doing anything more fulfilling with my time or more useful with my skills. I strengthen my student’s cognitive capacities and forge in them a habit of examining their lives. I measure my teaching effectiveness by the patterns that surface in my course evaluations. I ask for anonymous midterm evaluations and I treat this feedback from students as seriously as what they indicate on the school’s evaluations. When students report having learned not only about the subject matter but also about themselves, I know I have succeeded as a professor in the humanities.
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Teaching Experience:
St. Louis Community College, Meramec (St. Louis, MO)
Jefferson College (Hillsboro, MO)
Saint Louis University (St. Louis, MO)
Saint Louis Army ROTC Making Ethical Decisions Quickly Guest Lecturer: Spring 2019 Saint Louis Community College, Continuing Education
Pre-Collegial Experience: AC-Central High School (Ashland, IL) Western Literature Fall 2020 Communications Fall 2020 Johns Hopkins University, Center for Talented Youth Philosophy Summer, 2022 Philosophy of Mind Summer, 2018 |
Presentation on Pedagogy: “Instructor-Led Collaborative Notes During Class” Focus on Teaching and Technology Conference (2021) “Teaching Lesson Plans that Humanize: on Friendship” AAPT-APA Teaching Hub Poster Session (2020) The APA Central Division Meeting Award:
The Father James Veltrie, S.J. Cura Personalis Faculty Excellence Award (2017) Student Government Association, Saint Louis University License/ Certification:
Certificate in Independent Applying the QM Rubric (2021) Quality Matters (QM) Substitute Teacher License, State of Illinois pre-kindergarten through grade 12 Certificate in University Teaching Skills (2017) The Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning Training:
Introduction to Online Teaching (2020) The Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning Mentoring the Mentors (2019) The APA Central Division Meeting with facilitator Mitzi Lee Teaching Seminar (2015 - 2016) Scott Ragland, Saint Louis University Evaluation:
(last update Dec. 2020) |
