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School of Natural and Social
Sciences
Department of Sociology Jon Snodgrass Office: King Hall A3052
Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in 'Star Wars' Excerpt Chapter 1: Introduction
Jon Snodgrass was born in Colón, Republic of Panama and graduated from United States government schools in the former Panama Canal Zone. After serving as an enlisted man in the U.S. Army in Germany in the early 1960's, he earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in sociology (1965 & 1967) at the University of Maryland. Attending on the G.I. Bill and Ford Foundation scholarships, he obtained a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972. Jon Snodgrass has taught Sociology at CSULA for more than thirty-five years and is a tenured full professor. He teaches classes in Childhood and Adolescence (322) Aging and Maturity (323) Group Dynamics (Sociology 420) and Social Organization (Sociology 544). He holds a second Ph.D. in Child Psychoanalysis from the Reiss-Davis Child Study Center in West Los Angeles (1983) and is licensed as a psychotherapist in private practice in South Pasadena, CA.
Soc 322 and 323 are a standard lecture and examination courses in the field of human development. The prevailing "Life-Span Development" theories of Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget are reviewed and critiqued. The Psychoanalytic Perspectives of Sigmund Freud and Melanie Kelin are also presented. Another point of view called the "Self-Concept Perspective," is also discussed. Visions of the Self in Human Development: Illustrations in Film is a textbook authored by the instructor that is used in the course. Several commercially released films are shown over the quarter to illustrate the various theories of human development. Sociology 420 and Sociology 544 both rely on observational case study methods of instruction rather than lectures. Students are asked to learn directly from experience by finding a small group of people (15 or less) to observe on a weekly basis. Students write detailed group process notes that are presented to the entire class for discussion on a regular basis. The notes are the basis for writing mid-term and final-term case study papers that identify the pattern and dynamics in group behavior. A textbook, Power and Danger in Groups, authored by the instructor, contains the theoretical foundation of the course and provides illustrations in literature, film and historical events. In general, experiential courses require more individual supervision of students than ordinary lecture courses. This is true because each student has an individual case study project for the entire quarter, but also because experiential methods of learning are a new pedagogical technique to students. Students are familiar with lecture-examination methods and know the routine from years of practice. Students have the option of personal supervision during office hours to help understand the group in their particular case study.
Peace Knights of the Soul: Spiritual Wisdom in Star Wars, published by Inner Circle Publishing, was revised and reissued in March 2008. The book began as a film- review handout that grew over a seven year period into a full length manuscript. The work was inspired by The Empire Strikes Back, particularly the forty-five minute middle-segment in which Luke Skywalker meets Yoda, Master Jedi Knight. Peace Knights of the Soul uses characters and themes from selected science fiction film to illustrate four basic principles about human development. Neo and Trinity in “The Matrix,” Prot in “K-PAX” and Luke and Leia Skywalker in “Star Wars” are prototypes in the process of acquiring higher consciousness. That peace in the world begins in the mind is an ancient idea that makes social movements, political parties and military forces obsolete. Jon Snodgrass designed the Career Star System in the 1990s as an innovative way to help individuals find meaningful careers. The method was published as Follow Your Career Star: Career Quest Based on Inner Values (Kensington Publishing Corporation, 1996). Follow Your Career Star is a manual and practical workbook containing the beautiful Career Star Map, a full-color, fold-out illustration of the five major career paths. The book was empirically derived and tested over a twelve year period at an external career center and in the classroom with students at CSULA. In 1982 Jon Snodgrass published The Jack-Roller at Seventy: A Fifty Year Follow-Up of ‘Delinquent Boy's Own Story' (Boston: Lexington Books). This work traced the career of a sixteen year-old mugger rehabilitated by two University of Chicago Sociologists in the late 1920's. “The Jack Roller” lived in Echo Park (Los Angeles) and wrote a sequel to his original autobiography fifty years later. He disclosed that he had continued in a life of violent behavior that contradicted the conclusions by the original criminologists who compiled his story and claimed he was rehabilitated. This study is one of the longest follow-up studies in the social sciences. As a political activist in the late 1960's and 1970's, Jon Snodgrass edited, For Men Against Sexism: A Book of Readings (Times Change Press, 1976). This is a collection of pro-feminist writings by men, printed by a counter-culture press, that had only word-of-mouth advertising. It sold over 20,000 copies, went through six printings, but is now out of print. Gloria Steinem hailed it as "a pioneering anthology." It is still cited in bibliographies and on the internet as an example of “radical feminist men's writings.”
Prof. Snodgrass' schedule and office hours can be found at: http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/soc/office-hours.htm#snodgrass | |||||||||||||||
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| 1996 | Follow Your Career Star: A Quest Based on |
Soc 322: Childhood
and Adolescence