I'm a teacher, translator, writer, and dad living in Valparaiso, Indiana with my wife and daughter (both brilliant and funny), two cats, and a dog (not so brilliant, but funny nonetheless). Lover of literature, languages, history, and pop culture (I teach SF and Fantasy, Film, Comics, and American Humor at the university). You can see some of my research, teaching, and translation work at pnc.academia.edu/JesseCohn . I can't offer our house for reciprocal couchsurfing, but I promise to be a respectful, considerate, and appreciative guest!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Planning some touring in support of my recently published book (http://www.amazon.com/Underground-Passages-Anarchist-Resistance-1848-2011/dp/1849352011), but needing to do it on a budget! I also had a good experience co-couchsurfing with a friend while attending a conference in Toronto, 2011 -- it was nice to connect, even briefly, with local folks.

Interests

Philosophy, particularly social and political philosophy (as you can see, the history of anarchism is one focus of my scholarly work);
Literature (see below...)
Literary theory (Kenneth Burke is an especial favorite)
Translation (particularly French to English, which I do on a freelance basis; some Spanish to English; muddle through with some competence in other Romance languages...);
And much else besides!

• cats
• dogs
• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• poetry
• cooking
• comics
• board games
• teaching
• freelancing
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: eclectic -- old R&B and soul, 80s New Wave, punk, contemporary indie stuff à la Vocalo.org... Fan of www.kdhx.org as well...
Movies: classics, foreign, indie, but also superheroes, science fiction, comedies... Grand Hotel, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Me And You And Everyone We Know, Memento, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Brazil, Hot Fuzz, The Impostors...
Books: Late 20th-century fiction, with special affection for work that bridges the divide between science fiction and "mainstream" work -- e.g., Thomas Pynchon, Jeanette Winterson, Junot Diaz, Karen Russell...
Also: Virginia Woolf, William Blake, Milan Kundera, Franz Kafka, Bruno Schulz...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I wrote a book!

Teach, Learn, Share

Oh, anything I know! The opening lines of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Middle English; how to use the Ubuntu Linux operating system; old radical songs in Yiddish, French, and Spanish; cooking (Chinese, Italian, Indian)...

What I Can Share with Hosts

Conversation, poetry, playing board games...

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States