Cale Erwin

I would like to be a professor at a university one day. I would also like to work for some not-for-profit programs that deal specifically with social issues in the United States. I am in interested in labor, labor relations, education, and other important social issues.

I would like to pursue my Ph.D. in an interdisciplinary program where I can use all of the aspects of my academic career. My research interests are emerging technologies and the social impacts of technology on education, society, political economies, political and economic development, and history with a focus on advanced urbanized and industrialized countries. Engaging in the historical research involving social movements including labor, identity, class, racial, and radical movements; as well as intellectual history with a focus from the beginning of the industrial revolution to today. A specific research emphasis is on capitalist development and the historical processes of political economies.

My hobbies are reading books and researching topics including political economy, social and cultural history, economic history, and critical theory. Most recently I have been focused more on philosophical writings by authors like Jürgen Habermas, Jean-Paul Sartre, Hannah Arendt, Antonio Gramsci, Karl Polanyi, Martin Heidegger, and Herbert Marcuse. My primary philosophical interests lie specifically with pragmatists like John Dewey, William James, and George Herbert Mead, but I also study philosophers like Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida, and G.W.F Hegel. I also enjoy researching and studying the impact of technology on current developmental trends that bridge the gap of environmentalism, consumerism, labor relations, and production in a post-industrial age.My hobbies are not entirely related to the social sciences; I thoroughly love reading science fiction by authors like H.P Lovecraft, Issac Asimov, H.G Wells, and Ray Bradbury.

My other hobbies include curriculum development and activities related to educational growth. I was fortunate enough to be able to teach courses within the field of technology and was able to, in part create curriculum, and teach a variety of classes in the areas of information technology and business management. My inspiration for teaching comes from my parents who dedicated their lives to teaching public school for over forty years and the primary and secondary levels. My intellectual inspirations for teaching include philosophers from John Dewey, Paulo Freire, Antonio Gramsci, and G.W.F. Hegel. I am always working on practical praxis that allows me to interact with the areas of science and technology and different areas of the social sciences. Teaching, education, and knowledge are more than a hobby for me; they are passions that are at the core of who I am.

My life is not only dedicated to just academic endeavors; I am very interested in building computers for gaming purposes as well as helping to create inexpensive long lasting computers for friends and family members. I have a passion for computers and emerging technologies, and I recently have been concentrated on interactive technologies that can help society while simultaneously inexpensive or free. I am regularly tinkering with some new gadget in hopes of learning something new, so I can either help someone, teach someone or create interesting things. When I am not engaged in technological or intellectual pursuits I am attempting to learn new things to do; whether it is strengthening my writing skills - which is a never-ending endeavor - to woodworking, metal working, or home repair.

When I am not working on my various projects and school work I spend my down time with friends and family and my lovely intelligent fiance watching movies and vigorously debating issues we all seem to agree upon and turn to more interesting topics like art and music. I have been spending the last two weeks learning everything I can about training dogs, because of the new addition to our family. We recently bought an Italian Greyhound named Gramsci Hopper, I know it is nerdy, but whatever.

Lastly, I am dedicated to community engagement and try to participate and lend my expertise to my local community and social and political causes. I am always working to help create a better and more just world, whether through teaching, outreach, or social and political engagement. My ultimate hobby is making a better place for my community and the people that live in the community. I am incredibly privileged to be able to do what I do, and have what I have, and I have chosen to dedicate my life to making sure that everyone can get an opportunity to experience what I was able to experience.