Professor shares recolletion of travels in writing, photos

April 28, 2008 —

Professor of history and political science Jim Johnson presented a collection of pictures and writing that he finished on his travels to regions in the world that are involved in conflict, war, or revolution in the Ott Auditorium Thursday.

Since 2006, Johnson, who is described as a "dodger of bullets," has been caught in the crossfire of bullets and rockets on the Israel-Lebanon border and has also walked the streets of Nepal, being one of the only Americans in sight.

Johnson said that he has an extreme interest in these areas of the world.

"I have a fascination to discern when a country will go into chaos," he said.

Johnson has traveled to regions, including but not limited to, the Israel-Lebanon border, the Philippines, Nepal and Tibet, the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and Columbia.

Johnson said that he found two places particularly interesting out of the five that he presented. From a humanitarianism standpoint his favorite place was Nepal. "Nepal was my favorite because Hindus and Buddhists live side by side. They respect one another and love one another," Johnson said.

From a political standpoint Johnson's favorite region was the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

"There are just so many bizarre things happening there." he said.

Johnson was involved in the Literacy Drive that sent books to Nepal. "The easy part is getting the books collected, but the harder part is getting them transported over to Nepal."

Johnson believes that poverty is a major cause of conflict in the world.

"I saw the poverty around the world. Poverty is brutal."

Johnson is involved in three careers concurrently. He is an attorney and freelance journalist and a professor at SVSU. He has taught at the college level for 30 years.

"I can't imagine not teaching."