Today we’d like to introduce you to Sahar Joakim Resch.
Sahar, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m currently philosophy professor at St. Louis Community College where I’ve taught since Spring of 2021. My “side hustle” as it’s called these days includes running a YouTube Chanel where I publish educational videos on philosophical topics; sometimes this leads people to my website on which someone can contact me for a one-on-one session (for which I’d be paid). I talk with people and help them learn what they think and how to think.
….. How did I get here?
In 2010, I declared philosophy as my major at Santa Monica College. For two years, my interest was in social and political philosophy; which, by my lights, includes religious studies. I wanted to understand the effects of our beliefs (including our religious beliefs) on how we act.
In 2012, I transferred to UCLA and while studying there I attended an APA meeting with the philosophy club in San Diego. In one session, people were trying to figure out what kind of true belief gets called knowledge. I became addicted to Gettier literature. I took an intro to epistemology course and became sure that knowledge is not a kind of belief at all.
By 2014, I was calling myself a future epistemologist. My writing sample for graduate school aimed at showing that Plato is correct that knowledge is not something like a justified true belief. In 2015, I entered the Ph.D. in philosophy program at Saint Louis University. My research interest remained in epistemology but I moved beyond Plato (likely because I can’t read Attic Greek!).
Under John Greco’s supervision, I defended my dissertation in Spring of 2020. In my dissertation, Knowledge Beyond Belief, I broaden the limits of knowledge beyond traditional conceptions and contemporary alternatives by arguing for knowledge beyond the scope of belief.
I defended my doctoral dissertation virtually in the first few months of the COVID-19 Pandemic. I took work as an adjuct working simultaneously for Jefferson College, St. Louis Community College, St. Louis University, and Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville). One year later, I accepted a full time position as an Assistant Professor.
Everyday I enter the classroom (or log into it) is a gift.
Let this story demonstrate that someone can go from ESL (english as a second language) to CC (community college) to PhD (doctoral degree).
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It is really hard to teach someone to think for themselves; which, is the role of a philosophy professor. There is an entire set of industries who make money off of thoughtless masses. It’s my job, I think, to help people, one person at a time, to unpack all the implicit assumptions motivating their life choices.
I try to do this in the classroom as well, but students sometimes take philosophy thinking it’s an “easy A” rather than coming to me to help them improve their lives through philosophy.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Most philosophy professors, I take it, teach philosophy as a topic rather than an activity. To me, the point of the humanities is to actually make humans more like “people”… people being the thinkers of the animal kingdom. They trade, I’m in epistemologist. That means that I focus on how we acquire knowledge in my classroom, I’m trying to teach my students how to learn more about themselves through the content we are investigating. For example, I don’t just teach theories in aesthetics but I also asked my students to come up with their own theories about what makes something beautiful versus ugly.
How do you define success?
I think success is without definition. It’s not an item on a list to check off or a destination to reach. success is something ever-changing, adaptable, and constantly behind the higher steep on one’s journey. I don’t stop working, for me it’s even work to relax. For any person, you are prey once you turn your mind off. A philosopher’s job is never done. To me, success is to be forever found ready to think–ready to work.
Pricing:
- One-on-one sessions for philosophical coaching is 40/hour virtual or 60/hour in-person. [If you are my student at the community college, you are not qualified to meet with me in these sessions–just come to office hours.]
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.SaharJoakim.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saharjoakimphd/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahar-joakim-phd-09aa86283/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@saharjoakim
