I don’t normally post about iOS apps here, but then again the kinds of things that I’ll post here this summer are not necessarily going to have that much in common with each other (after all, no captivating academic papers are written by me during the summers right now).

Anyway, Dots is a simple iOS game that promises to incinerate your productivity. Seriously, the simplicity of a game merely connecting colored dots means that you can easily find yourself playing it all too much. It is good that I still have about a week before my internship begins and have good control over such negatively-productive things, but not everyone is as lucky. If you want to try a relatively new game that has a clean design and is free then you should go download Dots. If you do risk downloading this game and kissing productivity good-bye then once you’ve played it for a while feel free to share your thoughts and/or scores here (thoughts should also be shared in a review on the iOS App Store). I, for one, rarely get scores under 100 anymore if I’m truly paying full attention to the game.

CSB/SJU maintains an online repository of scholarly work that its faculty and students have authored, called DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU. Most commonly students will submit their work for inclusion in this permanent, searchable (including Google Scholar), archive following presenting at Scholarship and Creativity Day. It was shortly after Patrick Buller and I presented our paper on peer mediation in U.S. high schools this past April that our faculty advisor for the research project, Ronald Pagnucco, nominated the paper for submission to this archive. Shortly thereafter I filled out the online form submitting the work, and just today (while still recovering from yesterday’s wisdom teeth removal surgery) answered questions from and submitted paperwork to the curator of the archive. As of earlier in probably this past hour our paper is now one of the first scholarly works by students to be uploaded into the new institutional repository (according to the curator, but this repository has been around for a while so I don’t fully understand that statement). Now, with the paper having been available here on my website since the day we turned it in over a year ago this technically isn’t the first publication of it, but it is the first official academic publication of this paper, and with that the first time either Patrick or I have gotten work officially published. Even before today the paper was relatively high in any Google search for keywords used in the title, but now the paper will inevitably soon become even more accessible to those looking to do research on related topics. This isn’t likely to be the only academic publication Patrick and I submit this paper to, so long as Ron gives us the information on submission to at least one other journal he talked to us about. As the paper potentially gets published elsewhere I’ll be sure to make note of it here on my blog.

Exactly 258 days ago I moved into Benet Hall room 221 for the start of my junior year (this was already the second year of living in Benet Hall, and I’ll be in the same room next year) at Saint John’s University. It was threatening to rain, but luckily didn’t start to rain somewhat heavily until all my belongings were moved from the car to the very room I write this (across the length of this past week) in. Hopefully rain doesn’t hinder the move out process in a few hours. Lots has taken place over the past few months and it seems worth it to spend some time, seeing that I somehow don’t have enough homework to keep me busy right now, summarizing/reflecting on pieces of what has happened.
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As the second-to-last reading assignment for my Philosophy of Human Nature course (this is the first day of the final 6-day cycle of this semester, and CSB/SJU in general given the switch to a 5-day cycle next term) we read The Myth of Sisyphus (aside from what I just linked to there are numerous versions of it to be found using a search engine…). The written assignment that went along with this reading was to write down what we thought Sisyphus’ inner monologue/thoughts would be as he rolled this boulder up the slope and watched it roll back down endlessly. I thought some of you may find it interesting, so I’m posting it here. I’ve posted a ton of stuff this month alone, but as April fast comes to a close so is the Spring semester as of the end of next week, so there won’t be a huge amount more academic work I post here the remainder of this semester. As always, any sort of discussion on the work I post here in the comments is welcome.

As the final written component for the Theologies of Violence and Nonviolence class I’ve been in (though we still have one more exam left) we were to write a summative essay linking the usefulness of course materials to an open question of our choosing. I chose to use this essay as a way to reflect on how to integrate the aspect of my identity that is my Roman Catholic religion with my deep interest/identity in Peace Studies, which at times are seemingly incompatible. This was a way to reflect directly upon one of the goals I’d written for myself in this course. I’m posting this essay here as a reflection on such an integration that may well be of interest and/or use to you, or may lead to positive discussion regarding this integration.

As one of the major assignments for the Freedom of Speech course I’ve been taking this semester we had to write a biography on a U.S. Supreme Court justice. We could pick any justice, from those currently seated on the Court to those who where there when the U.S. Supreme Court began. I knew I’d want to pick one of the current justices, and from there wanted to choose someone whom I didn’t know much of anything about. Thus I decided to pick Stephen Breyer as the subject for my justice biography paper, which was due in class today. With this paper out of the way I have just one more paper and the final exam left in this course before the semester is over. Across my other courses I have primarily daily readings/assignments and two or three other minor final papers or projects to go, but overall (since the workload is manageable) it feels like a relatively straight road to the completion of my junior year at Saint John’s University. As with all my other papers that I post here I’m open to whatever discussion on the paper you feel inclined to leave in the comments here.

As the prep for my Philosophy of Human Nature course today we watched Bicentennial Man and reflected on what it showed is essentially human. My reflection discussed many complicated things being defined as essential to humanity, but I wrapped them all up in the realization of this thing known as the “human experience”. Even without watching the movie this reflection will provide some interesting insights into what the human experience may be and how/why it is essential to being human.