About

Hello! I am Joel, an applied linguist who works in the areas of writing, sociolinguistics, and education. Since 2015, I have been a faculty member in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. 

I started this blog in 2006 as a place to collect and explore ideas about English language teaching as I was finishing my MA in English at Humboldt State University (now known as Cal Poly Humboldt) and starting my career in the field. From 2007-2009 I worked in China teaching English at a couple of universities. From 2009-2015 I taught and did my PhD in Language & Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia.

This blog is a place where I write mostly about English, writing, sociolinguistics, teaching, academia-related things, research, and language and globalization. 

There is an inverse relationship between the perceived security and stability of my career and the number of blog posts per year over time.

The blog's title is a joke about academia. Sorry if you don't think it's funny.