Marcus Johnson
Marcus Johnson
Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs
Academic and Student Affairs
Marcus Johnson is a native of South Georgia and has deep roots in the area. After graduating from Tift County High School, Mark attended Georgia Military College, where he played football and was a cadet. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology and then philosophy from the University of Georgia, a master's degree in philosophy from Georgia State University, and a PhD in Educational Theory and Practice from the University of Georgia.
Mark served as the Education Program Coordinator, the Education Department Head, and the Director of Faculty Development and the Center for Teaching and Learning before moving into his current position: Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Professor Johnson lives in Alapaha with his wife, Katherine, and son, Alex.
Mark served as the Education Program Coordinator, the Education Department Head, and the Director of Faculty Development and the Center for Teaching and Learning before moving into his current position: Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Professor Johnson lives in Alapaha with his wife, Katherine, and son, Alex.
Sapere Aude:
In 1784, between the American and French Revolutions, Immanuel Kant identified the enlightenment spreading across Europe with sapere aude: that is, with the fact that people were choosing to think for themselves. Kant maintained that learning to think for oneself is very difficult to do in isolation but it comes naturally when society is organized in ways that encourage this mindset. Many, including myself, connect the ultimate purpose of higher education to helping people learn to think for themselves.
After the French Revolution, Jacques Jacotot expressed concerns about the ability of institutional education to serve this purpose. It appeared to him that state-funded education naturally evolved to serve the interests of the state rather than promote critical thinking. The task of encouraging people to think for themselves, it seemed, would fall to individual teachers and mentors.
Writing a couple generations later, Friedrich Nietzsche abandoned the Enlightenment goal of having everyone think for themselves and maintained that many people prefer comfort to thinking for themselves. Aspiring sapere aude-inspiring mentors should, therefore meet people where they are. Some want a good job. Some want intellectual emancipation. Most can be found along a continuum that includes both.
Starting with this framework, my goal as a teacher has long been to provide learning opportunities that help students reach their life goals, whatever they might be. For many of my former students, these goals included being an excellent teacher and family/community member. My courses benefitted students by cultivating their ability to learn more effectively, think more clearly, and share these skills with others.
As APAA and Director of the CTL, my goal is to help cultivate a culture of excellence in teaching and learning and to help ABAC's professors do the same.
In 1784, between the American and French Revolutions, Immanuel Kant identified the enlightenment spreading across Europe with sapere aude: that is, with the fact that people were choosing to think for themselves. Kant maintained that learning to think for oneself is very difficult to do in isolation but it comes naturally when society is organized in ways that encourage this mindset. Many, including myself, connect the ultimate purpose of higher education to helping people learn to think for themselves.
After the French Revolution, Jacques Jacotot expressed concerns about the ability of institutional education to serve this purpose. It appeared to him that state-funded education naturally evolved to serve the interests of the state rather than promote critical thinking. The task of encouraging people to think for themselves, it seemed, would fall to individual teachers and mentors.
Writing a couple generations later, Friedrich Nietzsche abandoned the Enlightenment goal of having everyone think for themselves and maintained that many people prefer comfort to thinking for themselves. Aspiring sapere aude-inspiring mentors should, therefore meet people where they are. Some want a good job. Some want intellectual emancipation. Most can be found along a continuum that includes both.
Starting with this framework, my goal as a teacher has long been to provide learning opportunities that help students reach their life goals, whatever they might be. For many of my former students, these goals included being an excellent teacher and family/community member. My courses benefitted students by cultivating their ability to learn more effectively, think more clearly, and share these skills with others.
As APAA and Director of the CTL, my goal is to help cultivate a culture of excellence in teaching and learning and to help ABAC's professors do the same.
Most of my scholarship stems from an interest in the production, dissemination, and evolution of knowledge and ideas.
Select Recent Publications
Johnson, M. (In Press). Agential Equanimity: Marcus Aurelius, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Educational Principles for Embracing Change. Thresholds in Education. (ISSN 0916-9641).
Johnson, M., & Price, R. (2021) Cultivating academic agency at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. In Campus Conversations: Student Success Pedagogies in Practice. J. Galle & D. Domizi Eds., Rowman & Littlefield Publishing. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475862591/Campus-Conversations-Student-Success-Pedagogies-in-Practice
Johnson, M. (2020). Understand: Historical, philology, philosophical philology, and Heidegger. Journal of The Georgia Philological Association. 9 (1), 66-74. https://www.mga.edu/arts-letters/english/gpa/docs/jgpa-vol-9-2019-20.pdf
Johnson, M. (2020). The entwined etymologies of pagan, Hellen, and gentile. Journal of The Georgia Philological Association. 9 (1). 48-65. https://www.mga.edu/arts-letters/english/gpa/docs/jgpa-vol-9-2019-20.pdf
Johnson, M. (2018). A century of intellectual agency: Kant, Jacotot, and Nietzsche. Journal of the Georgia Philological Association, 7 (1), 107-128. https://www.mga.edu/arts-letters/english/gpa/docs/jgpa-vol-7-2017-18.pdf
Johnson, M. (2017). The function and influence of the emancipatory binary and the progressive triad in the discourse on citizenship in social studies education. International Journal of Social Studies Education, 7(2), 98-120. http://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/article/view/317
Johnson, M. (2017). Nietzsche, philology, and genealogy. Journal of the Georgia Philological Association, 6 (1), 10-27. https://www.academia.edu/30482423/Nietzsche_Philology_and_Genealogy
Johnson, M. (2016). Emancipatory and pluralist perspectives on democracy and economic inequality in social studies and citizenship education, 42-58. In T. Davis & C. Wright-Maley (Eds.), Teaching for democracy in an age of economic disparity. Routledge: New York, NY. https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-for-Democracy-in-an-Age-of-Economic-Disparity/Wright-Maley-Davis/p/book/9781138933422
Johnson, M. (2013). Genealogy, Nietzsche, and the historical analysis of concepts. Journal of Philosophy and History of Education, 63(1), 93-106.
Select Recent Publications
Johnson, M. (In Press). Agential Equanimity: Marcus Aurelius, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Educational Principles for Embracing Change. Thresholds in Education. (ISSN 0916-9641).
Johnson, M., & Price, R. (2021) Cultivating academic agency at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. In Campus Conversations: Student Success Pedagogies in Practice. J. Galle & D. Domizi Eds., Rowman & Littlefield Publishing. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475862591/Campus-Conversations-Student-Success-Pedagogies-in-Practice
Johnson, M. (2020). Understand: Historical, philology, philosophical philology, and Heidegger. Journal of The Georgia Philological Association. 9 (1), 66-74. https://www.mga.edu/arts-letters/english/gpa/docs/jgpa-vol-9-2019-20.pdf
Johnson, M. (2020). The entwined etymologies of pagan, Hellen, and gentile. Journal of The Georgia Philological Association. 9 (1). 48-65. https://www.mga.edu/arts-letters/english/gpa/docs/jgpa-vol-9-2019-20.pdf
Johnson, M. (2018). A century of intellectual agency: Kant, Jacotot, and Nietzsche. Journal of the Georgia Philological Association, 7 (1), 107-128. https://www.mga.edu/arts-letters/english/gpa/docs/jgpa-vol-7-2017-18.pdf
Johnson, M. (2017). The function and influence of the emancipatory binary and the progressive triad in the discourse on citizenship in social studies education. International Journal of Social Studies Education, 7(2), 98-120. http://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/article/view/317
Johnson, M. (2017). Nietzsche, philology, and genealogy. Journal of the Georgia Philological Association, 6 (1), 10-27. https://www.academia.edu/30482423/Nietzsche_Philology_and_Genealogy
Johnson, M. (2016). Emancipatory and pluralist perspectives on democracy and economic inequality in social studies and citizenship education, 42-58. In T. Davis & C. Wright-Maley (Eds.), Teaching for democracy in an age of economic disparity. Routledge: New York, NY. https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-for-Democracy-in-an-Age-of-Economic-Disparity/Wright-Maley-Davis/p/book/9781138933422
Johnson, M. (2013). Genealogy, Nietzsche, and the historical analysis of concepts. Journal of Philosophy and History of Education, 63(1), 93-106.
One of my roles as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs is to oversee ABAC's student engagement programs, including study abroad, undergraduate research, and internships. I also organize The Big Questions panel lecture series, which provides students an opportunity to experience rational discourse on fundamental academic and existential questions.
