Episode 93
What has become of the trades within our country? Where did the blue-collar workers go and what is the reason behind their disappearance? Is there anything we can do to rebuild and re-vitalize this crucial section of today’s society? A co-founder of the College of St. Joseph, the Worker, Jacob Imam helps to answer our questions.
Join Grant and Jacob as they discuss the root of America’s trade epidemic and discuss the new college of St. Joseph, the Worker. This new school based in Steubenville, Ohio is quickly becoming the paradigm of trade education, combining a traditional liberal arts education with power tools. The best part of all? No debt. Tune in now to hear how they do it!
01:21 - The single biggest threat to the flourishing of the working class in America is a lack of creative capacity within each role.
05:34 - There is a crucial difference between the trades and manufacturing. The trades include a specialization in the creation of something unique which will fit into someone’s life. They use the whole person and are creative and life giving. In manufacturing, on the other hand, “there is a cookie-cutter product that someone is attempting to incorporate into their life.” Manufacturing is impersonal and non-creative. The trades have become made into an assembly line
07:22 - People are disillusioned with the debt they accrue whilst attending a conventional institute of higher education, so they turn to trade schools. At the College of St. Joseph, the Worker, however, the trades and the liberal arts are woven together.
12:09 - Older institutions could be modified to follow the model that the new college provides. However, there is a lot of risk involved and Imam doubts that many schools will be willing to take the plunge.
14:30 - There are students from all backgrounds, and while the school is still one of a kind, the board can be picky about who they choose.
19:45 - “I would say that our mission… is trying to teach students that the kingdom of God is not just some airy-fairy sentimental idea, but something that we need to help found, actually in reality here and now. The trades are in very wonderful terms a conduit for doing just that.”
21:28 - Many of the applicants are hands-on men who are nevertheless extremely academic when it comes to their hobbies.
24:26 - “It's not just that you're saving on undergraduate now, it's saving on things in the future. But more importantly, I'd say even that there are skills that you get to offer friends and utilize for building up those relationships with others… I tell them not to necessarily monetize these skills that you're acquiring. These skills are always going to be an asset. They're never going to be a liability. Whether or not they're monetary is a different matter.”
25:54 - The students live in school housing which, instead of paying for, they maintain the upkeep and renovate the houses. This teaches them life-skills and helps them to have a standard of living, not just for themselves, but for their future families.
28:48 - Rather than having a “residential life,” Jacob wants his students to focus on fostering a social life with all manner of people in different age graphics and situations.
30:40 - Currently, the school is looking into masonry as the next trade to be added.
33:57 - “Part of ensuring that our students grow up to be fully both, is actually having people that have cultivated on both sides for themselves. You can only give what you have, and thank God we've been able to hire the people that have it.”
36:22 - The college has had a variety of people reach out to us about teaching positions at our school. Often they have found it easier to hand pick their professors rather than send out a call.
38:31 - While there is not going to be a problem in finding work for the graduates of the college, Jacob expresses concern that it would be the kind of work he wants for his students.