DR. ALEXANDER W. FLYNT
Author | Lecturer | Researcher
Autobiography and About Flynt's Teaching
Section 1: Autobiographical Summary of Flynt's Background
I am one of those people who have always delighted in studying a wide range of material—largely for its own sake. It was well suited when at a high school reunion an old classmate, in explaining me to an outsider, said “but he always liked to study”—meaning that, for me, completing a PhD was not the burden that it often was for others. This is not to say that it was especially easy for me, but rather, it represented the type of thing I always loved doing—whether coming to the attention of others or not. Not only have I been a constant reader, but I have been regularly rewarded by seeking out and learning from those with knowledge about whatever I might be studying at the time.
I was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1943. Usually living with our mother, who had difficulty adjusting to life and caring for us, my younger sister, my older brother, and I moved around frequently—including in the states of North Carolina, Texas, Florida, and Washington. My schooling, often irregular, included spending my seventh-grade year in a two-room school at Appleton, Washington. I sometimes stayed home gathering firewood or hunting small game for food, and the busy teacher was usually content with me working on my own, reading from our little library.
After the eighth grade and being 14, I was told to leave home and earn a living. This was workable into the fall, but farm and ranch work shut down after the first snow. I ended up on the street in Vancouver, Washington, where I lacked survival skills. I was caught, put into a foster home, and forced to go to school. After doing no work and receiving all failing grades, I found my bearings and stayed on the honor roll.
My initial interest was in natural science, especially biology—particularly the study of reptiles and
amphibians. I kept up a private study in this area from age nine—regularly interacting with others more
knowledgeable than myself. As a result, I was able to attend my first year of college at the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Washington) with all expenses paid—living with a semi-retired biology department head with whom I made frequent field trips.
Gradually, under the influence of a composition and literature professor, my interest expanded beyond science. Needing time to study and a chance to earn money—and facing three years of required military service—I joined the army. Because of rising tensions between America and what was the Soviet Union (“the cold war”), I was sent to Berlin, Germany. There, most of my time was spent tending to a lion cub (mascot) and producing local military news stories as a writer/photographer. Largely managing my own time, I was able to read extensively in the humanities and social sciences.
Afterward, I entered Western Washington State University where I earned a BA (with honors)—majoring in history and minoring in philosophy. Next, taking the broadest approach I could to subject matter, I completed an MA in history at the University of Washington. Finally, while working full time in the University of Hawaii’s world civilization program, I earned a PhD in American studies under an extraordinary combination of professors who encouraged me in developing what became my “grand unified theory of the humanities and social sciences”—and the demonstration of its usefulness in explaining competing belief systems in America.
Upon graduation, I entered a lean teaching market. Moreover, while people were narrowing their specializations, I was seeking to expand even beyond what others were moving away from. While I found only irregular teaching, I was encouraged to develop my theory by some of the most prominent American scholars working in related areas. I finally entered a perfect study situation when I joined a crash-fire rescue team at a major airport. There, working 24-hour days and having few calls, I was able to spend much of my time reading, writing, thinking, and organizing material for later use.
Now, well into retirement—and continuing to develop my thinking—I am in the process of extracting summary examples from several unpolished book-length manuscripts and related material as well as interacting with audiences on the usefulness of my model for organizing the understanding of factual material and concepts ordinarily studied in separate fields or inadequately integrated when purportedly studied in interdisciplinary or cross-cultural terms.
More specific autobiographical information related to the development of my theory is found in the preface to my book, A Grand Unified Theory of the Humanities and Social Sciences Vol I, The World-outlook Field. It includes something on the delightful time I spent thinking while hand clearing and planting land—and building two houses from scratch. I currently live in a large house I built in Florida where I have spent many meaningful years—including helping to raise my son and daughter. They are both now long grown and with advanced degrees.
Section 2: About Flynt's Teaching
Alexander Flynt has spent decades researching and speaking on the integrated understanding of the humanities and social sciences and related subject matter. In addition to several years of teaching such broad general courses as world civilization and American civilization at colleges and universities, he has made numerous independent presentations of related material to high schoolers, college and graduate students, and professors at conferences and elsewhere. He has spoken at small gatherings at libraries, churches, and classrooms as well as at large events open to the public at American and overseas colleges. His talks are well received, with some people he has addressed claiming—even years later—to have had something permanently added to their integrated understanding of knowledge. Dr. Flynt is available to speak to groups large or small.
Based on the theory outlined in his book, A Grand Unified Theory of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol I, The World-outlook Field, over a thousand pages of supporting manuscripts, as well as thousands of unused citations related to cultural features, Flynt has a wealth of material to integrate into his talks. His presentations move between the largest considerations of beliefs, as with religions, philosophies, and ideologies, and the related variations within such primary cultural features as art, reason, education, warfare, ethics, psychology, inventiveness, government, law, industriousness, class-structure, and economics—all understandable within a single framework.
Flynt’s presentation method involves the audience as much as possible, frequently accepting interjected statements and suggested content—while being always open to questions. The speaker’s strong interest and considerable background keep the focus by folding audience material back into the main presentation and associating it with whatever ideas are being developed. As the audience gains self-understanding as a group its knowledge and interests bring on adjustments.
Favoring a suspension of judgment in support of an atmosphere of neutrality, Flynt does not regularly promote an agenda or world-view of his own. At the same time, he is strongly committed to scholarly accuracy and completeness when working with material from diverse sources. Whatever may be settled upon in a different context, at least temporary discomfort is accepted as a price of understanding. He is open to criticism and encourages input from his audiences—sometimes exchanging information with individuals even days or years following a presentation. With small groups, he remains always open to questions. And, as in an old-fashioned seminar—but using the internet instead of books—any attendee might look up and offer a name, date, or place—or what might be summed up in a short phrase or two. He has charts and an extensive collection of citations available for viewing on screen. With larger audiences, he has sometimes been assisted by a moderator or individuals selected in advance to ask questions or offer input.
Flynt’s information serves different people differently depending upon where they are in their acquisition and use of knowledge. Compared to what usually takes place, the beginning student may learn to rely more on integrated understanding than memorization when taking in information. The foreign or out-of-field student may learn to orient to new material faster by associating unfamiliar terms and concepts with what might already be familiar from a different language or perspective. The well-informed thinker or scholar may become better able to integrate old material—long isolated from a more general context—into his or her larger understanding of things. And the practical person—required to make decisions affecting the lives of others—may gain a better sense of the full range of considerations potentially involved in such decisions. Flynt’s theory carries the claim of being a major breakthrough in bringing together previously fragmented knowledge—on the order achieved by Copernicus, Darwin, and others—and invites criticism at this level.