Instructor
(719) 502-3200 | jared.benson@pikespeak.edu
Box C16, Centennial | F-200
Jared Benson
M.A., University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
My teaching philosophy springs from the point of departure that students and teachers
are in this process together. When we peel back all the excessive layers in modern
academics and get down to the actual foundation of education, the practice is truly
about a teacher and a learner. “We’re” the only requirement for learning to take place—and
that learning goes both ways—there’s reciprocity. The famed 13th century philosopher-poet,
Rumi, better encompasses this essence: “Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there’s a field. I’ll meet you there.”
In short, I hope to foster agency in students to take more active roles in their education,
in their lives, and in the world. Further, I strive for discourse that challenges
students as well as myself to pursue deeper understanding of both our own narratives
as well as others’. Through entertaining controversial or unconventional views, ideas,
ways of knowing, etc., students hopefully leave my courses with at the bare minimum,
a more open mind, but ideally, with a mindset and tools to take our collective trajectory
seriously.
Started teaching at PPSC in Fall of 2011 (to current)
Started teaching at UCCS in the Fall of 2011 (to current)
Writing Tutor at PPSC from 2012 to 2015
2017 Winner of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Outstanding Teacher
Award (Lecturer) for the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.
Tier III Adjunct Advancement Status in May 2016 at Pikes Peak State College.
Tier II Adjunct Advancement Status in May 2015 at Pikes Peak State College.
HIS 1110, 1120, 1210, 1220, 1310, 2015, 2145, 2500
HUM 1015, 1021, 1022
Benson, J. and Lee, N. Revolution and Ideology. YouTube channel/podcast (Episodes
cited in Australian Universities’ Review [Vol. 64, 2022]; also garnered personal attention
of Eric Selbin, Ph.D. of Southwestern University and Matt Negrin, writer for the Daily
Show with Trever Noah).
Editor for Pikes Peak State College OER textbooks in U.S. History (2023).
Benson, J. and Lee, N. “Academia amid Standardized Students, ‘Alternative Facts,’
Emerging Technologies, and Corporate Models.” Watched manuscript compiled by Dr. Stephany
Rose Spaulding. 2018.
Entry development for the Middle Eastern history encyclopedia project published by
Anaxos for the Gale Online Reference Library (2012).
Benson, J. “Undoing the Revolution in Egypt: Anwar Sadat’s Infitah,” “The Left’s Endeavor
for a Symbolic Leader,” “Manufacturing the Extremist: What Modern Propagandists Learned
from the Church.” Yahoo Contributor Network (Politics). 2012.
Benson, J. “Book Review of Atlantic Diasporas.” Journal of Spanish, Portuguese, and
Italian Crypto Jews. School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International
University, Miami, Florida. Summer 2011
Social Movement and Resistance
History of Ideological Construction
Power Dynamics
Socialization Through Narratives
Subaltern Studies
Colonial Case Studies