Franklin Jacoby

Cherryfield, Maine

What classes have you taken at COA?
Philosophy of Nature
Chemistry I
Chemistry II
Biology I
Biology II
Advanced Composition
Climate Science
Classics in Philosophy: Wittgenstein’s Investigations
Theories of Human Nature
Historical Studies in the Philosophy of Science
Organic Chemistry I
Wilderness in Landscape Art
White Water, White Paper: River Conservation and Recreation
Probability and Statistics
Advanced Plant Taxonomy Ecology
Poetry and the American Environment
Humans and Place: the Natural and Cultural History of Maine’s Islands
Seminar in Human Ecology
Herpetology
Winter Ecology Tutorial: Consciousness
Tutorial: Violin and Theory

What has been your favorite class at COA? Why?
Philosophy of Nature with John Visvader. This was the first class that really got me seriously thinking about how I thought the world worked. It also gave me the initial tools to start thinking critically and analytically about different ideas. Other classes, such as Ecology, have also done this, but Philosophy of Nature was my first exposure to this kind of academic rigor.

What was your favorite project at COA? Why?
I have really loved working on my senior project because it has allowed me to delve more deeply into ideas and issues that I have encountered at COA. I wrote a travel narrative exploring the value in wilderness experience and what that precisely looks like in a New England setting. To gather the fodder for this writing project, I canoed from New York to Maine over June and July last summer.

My project has initiated interesting discussions with faculty and other students and really helped me with writing and thinking about topics such as nature, travel, solitude, and what college is all about.

What is your dream occupation?
I think I would like to write and teach in some capacity, preferably in conjunction with philosophy and nature writing. There is still more learning I would like to complete before settling on anything yet, however.

Do you work on or off campus? If yes, where?
I am a writing tutor in COA’s Writing Center.

What do you see yourself doing after COA?
I plan to apply to graduate school and pursue a Master’s in philosophy. I’m not sure where I will go after that, probably into teaching.

What country or state would you like to visit?
The United Kingdom.

Where would you love to live?
New England, but I want to travel first.

What is happiness to you?
Happiness is either having a heated discussion among friends about theories in biology or thinking about those ideas while canoeing downriver.

Have you had an internship? If so, doing what? Where? If not, what are your plans, if any, for your internship?
I have done two internships. My first was with a local conservation organization. While employed, I conducted a biological inventory with another student of a nearby island and submitted a report of our findings. My other internship was with Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. I was a field intern and surveyed bighorn sheep populations over the summer.

What do you like to do when you’re not doing school work?
I love rock climbing, white water paddling, reading fiction and nonfiction, hiking, camping, and cycling.

What is the motto you like to live by?
“Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

Why did you choose to come to COA?
Because I really wanted to get to know my professors and fellow students, to have interesting discussions with them, and to work on fascinating projects in a close community.

What do you like to study?
Mostly philosophy and biology, but I have also really enjoyed poetry, writing, and music.

Where do you like to study?
I love working in libraries: it’s wonderful having so many resources as hard texts.

Who are your favorite writers and poets?
John Fowles, H.D. Thoreau, Tolkien, Robert Service, A. Dumas, Jonathan Swift, Rosemary Sutcliff, Herman Melville

Who are your favorite artists and musicians?
Beethoven, Vivaldi, Shostakovich, Simon and Garfunkel, Johan Christian Dahl

Who is your favorite fictional hero?
Odysseus

What historical figure do you most admire?
Von Humboldt

Who is your hero today?
Ernst Mayr

What do you value most in your friends?
Honesty and integrity

What do people say is your most marked characteristic?
They say I’m tenacious.

What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could lose those piercing whistles that carry.

What is your least favorite spice?
I like most spices, but I am not fond of parsley.