Frank Young

Philosophy

I entered the pursuit of philosophy through my last required course in Aesthetics, given in the Philosophy Department, to complete my degree in musicology. That course broadened my intellectual interest and curiosity from a totally different perspective. It liberated me, at that time, from the rigidity and discipline of the musical world to a wider range of interests that I previously never had the opportunity to explore in an academic environment. From there, I completed another BA, this time in philosophy, and continued on to earn my graduate degree in philosophy at SFSU (San Francisco State University). 

When I worked as a TA as an undergraduate in the Music and Humanities departments, I received my first teaching experience. However, my first real teaching experience, i.e. in total control of the class, was when I did my student teaching at CSM. That experience cemented my interest in teaching at a community college in the Bay Area from all other professional alternatives and offers. I have stayed in this district at Canada College since then.

I decided to stay at a community college because of my interest in pursuing my own discipline as well as my strong desire to share that interest with my students. I want to help them strive to achieve their intellectual potentials, provoke their curiosities, widen their perspectives, and ultimately ensure that they become intellectually independent people.

During my tenure years at Cañada College, I returned to the university and completed another area of discipline in Asian history and civilization. As a result, I developed a two- part Asian Civilization and Heritage history course. This two-part course not only provides a general survey of the historical and cultural development of Chinese and Japanese civilizations from the beginning to the present, but also examines the impact of these cultural legacies on Asian Americans in their identity struggles in this country. My colleagues and I combined these classes with other ethnic courses in making an Ethnic Studies course part of the AA graduation requirement

Needless to say, my continuous interest in teaching at this community college is a rewarding experience; it is pedagogically challenging and intellectually stimulating. On one hand, it gives me the opportunity to devote my time to teaching and to make my discipline an interesting one for my students without the syndrome of “publish or perish.” On the other hand, it gives me the freedom to explore my own philosophical interests to enhance my curriculum content in all my classes. For these reasons and others, I couldn’t find a better environment than Canada.