Philosophy professor Joel Potter to serve as UAA's first faculty-in-residence
by Michelle Saport |
![Joel Potter](/news/archive/2017/09/_images/2017Fall-Joel-Potter-600x400.jpg)
Joel M. Potter, term assistant professor of philosophy at UAA, took on the additional role of faculty-in-residence in August 2017.
The Department of Residence Life is proud to introduce to the university community the Faculty-in-Residence program. Through a generous gift from the Annual Award for Excellence, DRL was able to establish UAA's first Faculty-in-Residence program as a way to further ingrain academics into the residential experience. The Department of Residence Life is committed to supporting residents in the pursuit of their academic goals, and we are very excited to see the ways in which the faculty-in-residence can help achieve this mission.
Joel M. Potter is a term assistant professor of philosophy at UAA, where he has taught since 2013. In August of 2017, he took on the additional role of faculty-in-residence, serving alongside Residence Life staff to promote student success in the residential community.
He completed his doctorate in philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo with a dissertation on the role of the emotions in philosophical inquiry.
Joel cares deeply about providing a holistic education that helps student to grow in every aspect of their lives. As a professor at UAA, he has sought to support students in their academic journey through mentoring, hosting philosophy reading groups, advising, and organizing academic events and speaker series. As UAA's first faculty-in-residence, Joel will be seeking to build a bridge between academic and campus residential life, holding office hours in Gorsuch Commons, facilitating academic programming in the residential areas and participating in residential events on campus.
Joel and his wife, Rebekah, grew up in the highlands of Papua New Guinea and have since lived in central and eastern Ohio and western New York before moving to Alaska. Rebekah holds a master's in sociolinguistics (SUNY Buffalo) and homeschools their three children: Dora, Sylvia and Rosa. Together, they enjoy spending time with students, hiking, fishing, berry-picking, riding bikes and reading lots of books.
Dr. Potter will be hosting office hours in the Gorsuch Commons during the fall semester on Thursdays from 3-5 p.m., and Fridays from noon-1 p.m.
If you are interested in collaborating with Dr. Potter on events in the residential community, please contact him via email at jmpotter3@alaska.edu.
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