My Conversation with Jeremy: an Epistolary Novel 
by Andrew Kerr
April 2006
As any good student of English literature knows, a popular early form of the novel was the epistolary. Epsitolary novels are generally an exchange of letters that, in sum, tell a tale.
During the early days of the Gazette I read of one Mr. Jeremy Farris, a gentleman of great renown in the Georgia Tech community who had been selected to attend Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. This is a great honor: famous American Rhodes scholars include Bill Bradley, President Bill Clinton, and (this surprised me, but the guy is super cool, so I shouldn't have been) Kris Kristofferson.
During the long, harsh Atlanta winter, thoughts of interviewing Mr. Farris returned to my weary mind. Would I be up for the task of conversing with one of Georgia Tech's mightiest minds? Many times I raised quill over parchment in order to scribe that first question, only to have my efforts interrupted by the cry of an office co-worker: "Why don't you use e-mail instead?"
At last I did. These are the results:
Chapter One: In Which the Interviewer Extends Greetings to One Mr. Jeremy Farris--and Receives a Reply
Hi, Jeremy. I hope your Rhodes experience is going well.
I write for an online magazine targeting middle/high school teachers and their students. Ms. Margaret Molyson, science department chair at Houston High School, recommended that I write a piece on you. I had already read a flurry of press regarding your being selected as a Rhodes scholar some months back, but I would be curious to know how things have gone since, and to talk a bit more informally about your life so far.
I spent two weeks at Oxford's Univ back in 1992, and remember with great fondness chilling out with Victorian literature in the rose garden by the river--and one disastrous attempt at punting. I hope you are making your own fond memories now!
Cheers,
Andrew
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Andrew,
Thanks for writing. My Oxford experience thus far has been a dream. An interview would be fine.
Univ huh? My supervisor is in Univ, so it is one of the colleges that I peek into now and again. It has been much too cold this winter for any attempts at punting. But perhaps in the Trinity term...
[Mr. Farris expounds on K-12 education, a good subject for the CEISMC Gazette, but in the interest of space I have removed this piece of correspondence as I wish to focus more on the man who is Jeremy Farris--Ed.]
Well, enough for now. I'll look forward to your questions. Please give me some idea on what is appropriate for word length in the responses. Also, after glancing through Mr. Ball's interview, I would prefer the piece to be more than a CV in interview format.
Hope all is well,
-Jeremy
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Thanks, Jeremy. I will begin drafting my questions later this week. Regarding the CV in interview format, do not fear; it sounds like you are quite outspoken, which will make this interview a lot more fun...
Thanks for agreeing to do this, and I'll send you those questions soon!
Andrew
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Chapter Two: In Which Questions are Posed, and Then Answered--Prompting Even More Questions
Hi, Jeremy. Well. Here are a whole bunch of questions. Feel free to answer them all, or only those that interest you, which might not be very many. ;-) I imagine there will be one more turnaround based on your replies, and that will be that.
I hope I have formulated questions that will be sufficiently provocative to you! :-)
[For the sake of narrative clarity, we now switch to a traditional Q&A format.]
Before we get into the realm of ideas, I think it's necessary to talk a bit about your roots, since students from all over Georgia may be reading this. Could you describe growing up in Bonaire, Georgia (if that is indeed where you grew up; I'm extrapolating from other interviews here) and specifically what it was like to grow up there (high school activities both in and out of school)?
I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and Bonaire, where I attended Houston County High School. I ran cross-country, played chess, and spent a lot of time in microbiology and plant pathology laboratories at Mercer Med and the USDA. I was also a Boy Scout. I studied diligently, but not masochistically. I did well enough to earn a good scholarship to study at Georgia Tech. The pond was small. I wish I had been more courageous and inwardly directed in my studies at a younger age.
How did you wind up working in those labs? Did you apply for some sort of an internship there?
No, in both cases I called the scientists with whom I wanted to work and asked if they would lend me their labs and their time. I did work as an employee at a USDA research station for several summers but mostly not on my own research.
Kudzu. You studied it in high school and got a lot of recognition for your research. Now you're thoroughly entrenched in what ostensibly is a totally different world (I'm calling it "political philosophy"; please correct me if I should call it something else). Do you look back on your research then as that conducted by someone living a completely different life in a different world, or is there a logical continuum from kudzu to Oxford that might not be obvious to the outside observer?
There is no logical continuum from where I stand aside and infer the movements from kudzu patches to Oxford libraries, but there is a narrative arc. And as in any interesting story, there is a significant amount of contingency. As a teenager I adored scientific investigation, particularly microbiology. After my high school graduation, I had the opportunity to serve as a delegate for the US to an APEC youth science convention in Singapore. That was my first experience abroad; it had an impact in forcing the realm of inquiry beyond science. Later that summer I began as a student at Georgia Tech where, although I set out to study microbiology, I would go on to have some educational experiences that would convince me that other topics of study warrant my immediate attention: economics, international relations, philosophy. The experience of studying in Latin America, in Argentina, Cuba, and Guatemala confirmed that larger sentiment. I had an ideal undergraduate experience at Georgia Tech, and one which I think is absolutely normal: a relatively bright but largely ignorant teenager goes off to college with a passionate, but albeit narrow, set of preferences for study, and his or her myopic interests are broadened and restructured as he or she encounters a range of new personalities, books, and problems. Georgia Tech is very good at preparing young people with the skills they need for industry or research work in science and technology. In the sea of contingency that is college, I somehow charted a different course, but I was also in search of a different end. I don't want to go to far down this path, but there is a distinction to be made between a good training and a good education. I think that high school students should also know that their college experience will probably be reducible to a handful of people, and if their collegiate experiment runs properly, a few people will affect who they are as individuals...
I can complete this sketch by noting that during the spring of my eighth semester, I participated in a semester exchange program where I studied some courses in philosophy, which were unavailable at Georgia Tech, at the University of Leeds in England. After living in England for six months I realized that I quite liked it, and I thought that I would apply to do graduate work over here. In Oxford, I study (or
"read" as they say at Oxford) political theory at Balliol and in the Department of Politics.
Lip service has been paid in other pieces I've read about you to your holistic approach to life, including the intersection of science and philosophy. Considering that I hear political philosophy (or some perverted version of that) espoused on the television news every night, I would be curious to hear more about the science end of your research; perhaps you could share some specific examples of science
issues and how they dovetail into politics in Latin America.
In past pieces I was most likely referring to the philosophy of science as one of my interests, which was a personal bridge at Georgia Tech. If you are in fact interested in my work in that, I could talk about my very recent work on the burdens of falsification for rational choice theory, which lies at the intersection between microeconomic theory and the philosophy of science. But I doubt that is germane in this context. Of course, there is no bridge in sight that goes to Latin American politics.
Do you feel that the current American administration has done a better or worse job than previous ones addressing the issues that need to be confronted in Latin America, and why?
I think that this administration began poorly in addressing Latin American issues by appointing Eliot Abrams to the position of Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations in 2001, Otto Reich as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs in 2001 and then as President Bush's Special Envoy for Western Hemisphere Initiatives within the National Security Council, and John Negroponte as Ambassador to the UN in 2001. These men have very bad reputations in Latin America, and I would encourage your readers to research why that is. In 2001, I thought these appointments sent the wrong message to Latin Americans.
Then in 2002, this administration made itself look somewhat hypocritical in its commitment to the spread of democracy by recognizing the Carmona government that came into power in Venezuela after a military coup, which does not exactly offer the legitimacy that democracies provide during changes of power. This coup was, by the way, condemned by every other Latin American nation.
Mostly, I believe the overarching policy theme toward Latin America has been one of detrimental neglect, which has, in part, resulted in and contributed to substantial political changes in Latin America. The governments of Brazil and Venezuela are certainly more vocal in their condemnation of past and present US policy in the region and in the world than they were six years ago. They are both certainly more powerful now than then. About 15% of our daily oil imports comes from Venezuela alone, more than a million and a half barrels per day. Americans ought to be concerned that this administration has not brought our country into closer relations with our neighbors in Latin America. There is undeniably more distance now than there was when Bush took office.
Having visited Central and South America yourself, could you share any personal observations you have made related to the issue of illegal immigration?
I have stood at a bus terminal in western Guatemala and watched mothers and fathers send off their teenage sons and daughters with representatives from the illegal immigration business. In Guatemala these men are called 'coyotes.' The cost of paying a coyote to guide you through Mexico, through the desert and across the border can be upwards of $10,000, which is an enormous sum of money for Guatemalans and Mexicans of modest means. There are other costs as well. It is very risky and dangerous. When I lived in Guatemala I lived with a young man who had spent some time in a Mexican jail because he was discovered in his attempt to emigrate to the US. Despite these enormous costs, the opportunity is greater still and illegal immigration will continue for some time.
How is life at Oxford? Have you indulged in such quintessential British pastimes as rugby and cricket?
I am afraid that I am too small for rugby and I was never very fond of baseball; however, life in Oxford is wonderful. As a graduate student here, I find that there is a tremendous amount of academic freedom. I can learn at length without the normal pressures of grades. My program of study is very international in its student composition, and I have been very impressed with other members in the Rhodes community.
Regarding British pastimes, I occasionally frequent a local pub where I partake in the largest national pastime.
What do you do at Oxford besides study? What things have struck you as curious, wonderful, interesting, etc. in your daily interactions? Do you have a TV in your room? Do you live in a dorm? Is it like Harry Potter? Seriously, some American students will want to know if Oxford is like Hogwarts!
I have to admit that I have never read a Harry Potter book nor seen a Harry Potter movie, but I bet it's just like Oxford. To be cheesy, Oxford does have its own little magic. It is like a little town with a lot of castles instead of regular buildings. Oxford is different than an American university in that if you are undergraduate, you are at once a member of your college and of the university. Your college is your little castle. When it is not the summer, the weather is always grey and drizzly and somber. Most of the Americans over here complain about the weather, but I like it. Mostly, again when it is not the summer, Oxford is its own self-contained little world. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to be in this place for a short period of time.
Most students do live in their little castles, but I do not. As I am married, I live in an apartment with my wife, who also went to Georgia Tech (a chemical engineer) and now is a medical student at Emory. Luckily, she is taking a year's leave off to play in Oxford. To answer another little question, in the apartment, there is no TV. In England you are required to pay a yearly 200 dollar tax just to own a television. Moreover, I think TV is a poorly chosen way to spend one's time.
To offer a little more insight, Oxford is composed of three terms: Michaelmas, Hillary and Trinity. During term time, I am usually here doing normal student things: read, write, and be merry. I've recently started to play a Japanese board game called 'Go' that I find very intriguing. I go down to London, which is about an hour away. I also like to explore the little English villages that pepper the nearby countryside.
However, when term is not in session, I do some travelling. During the winter I travelled through Turkey and Israel. Both of these countries are fascinating. The great thing about living in Europe is that everything is very close and the airfare is relatively inexpensive to fly to European cities.
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Chapter Three: In Which Loose Ends Are Tied
Hi, Jeremy. Excellent answers! I will digest these tonight and send you some follow-ups tomorrow.
I do have one immediate request: Do you have any pictures of yourself at Oxford and/or anywhere in Latin America that might make good companion pieces to this exchange? You could just e-mail them to me, any size, and I can make them work.
Talk to you soon,
Andrew
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Andrew,
I found two pretty quintessential Oxford pictures. Obviously, they involve the gown.
-Jeremy
(attached)
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Years from now it will be told in song and, very probably, dance, the tale of two figures—a towering journalistic titan at the CEISMC Gazette, and a Rhodes Scholar—who sorted through the issues of the day in an exchange of letters. And when you see those artistic interpretations of those views, remember that you read the original here first, at the CEISMC Gazette.
The End