Jonathan Patterson

Background

About Jonathan Patterson

After nearly five years working as a corporate recruiter and Program Specialist with clients associated with the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community, I pursued a career in academia. Presently, I am completing my doctorate at the University of Kansas for whom I also teach freshman composition and literature courses online. I also teach online literature courses for Brigham Young University-Idaho and Southern New Hampshire University. I recently began teaching first-year composition courses for a local community college, Skagit Valley College, My primary research interests include ruin theory, spatial theory, psychogeography, human geography, refugee literature, and British literature. I have five peer-reviewed publications. My academic interests are many. My dissertation focuses on establishing a better understanding of ruination theory and processes of ruination as it relates to both psycho-spatial relations between individuals and their environment, particularly those environments that are abandoned, war-torn, or derelict. This includes urban studies, psychogeography, human geography, and space/place theorists and is applied to British literature and history from approx. However, in addition to my doctoral research, I also present regularly at conferences on the topics of ruination, 21st-century British literature and poetry, and the T.S. Eliot society. My career interests would include any area in academia (be it administrative or teaching) that would allow me to combine my corporate and academic experience as well as one that would allow me to utilize my language skills whether it be for advising or recruitment efforts or working in various department settings. I believe in the importance of critical thinking, expanding ways to engage with the local community, and helping students have a better college experience through advisement and participation.