Military

From soldier to scribe: PhD student Zak Jones explores veterans' narratives in literature

siddiq22 — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 13:49:52 +0000

From soldier to scribe: PhD student Zak Jones explores veterans' narratives in literature

siddiq22 Tue, 08/08/2023 - 09:49

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Zak Jones is being recognized for his writing, including recently winning the 2023 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award (supplied image)

Sean McNeely

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Our Community

Robarts Library

English

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

Military

University College

Woodsworth College

When Zak Jones was young, his mother encouraged him to carry around a notebook and write down any interesting observations.

“I've kept that practice going throughout my adult life,” Jones says.

Capturing those thoughts has paid off for the ��Ƶ PhD candidate. It’s led to two previous degrees at U of T, a poetry collection, a book of short stories and several writing awards – including the 2023 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for short fiction for his short story “So Much More to Say.” The award celebrates emerging Canadian writers in the fields of poetry and short fiction.

Zak Jones in his “dressed greens” military uniform
in 2010 (supplied image)

“Winning this award was a vote of confidence,” says Jones, whose story is set in a flooding South Carolina cemetery and delves into the thoughts of a young gravedigger who has the gruesome task of reburying the bloated bodies that have risen to the surface after heavy rains.

“I'm feeling much more secure in my self-conception as an artist. Now, when I tell people I'm a writer, I'm not half-joking.”

Jones also recently received the Norma Epstein Foundation Award in Creative Writing – part of University College’s writing awards – for another short story titled “Love Handles.”

For Jones, these are satisfying accomplishments – especially considering there was a time when he wasn’t sure if he would even finish high school.

Jones’ path to U of T was unconventional – before coming to university, he served in the U.S military.

“My grandfather, my dad and all of his brothers were in the army,” Jones says. “It was one of those things that was on the table for my brother and I since we were little boys.”

The brothers enlisted soon after they both completed high school. They trained together to become army medics at bases around the U.S. – but in a strange twist, were never sent overseas because they happened to be in the same unit as Chelsea Manning, who made international headlines in 2013 for violations of the U.S Espionage Act after sharing military and diplomatic documents on WikiLeaks.

“Thanks to Chelsea, my brother and I were spared a deployment,” Jones says.

While they trained, the brothers also took college classes online and Jones earned the equivalent of an associate’s degree from Columbia College in Missouri.

“From there, I learned how to write a paper and read for academic purposes,” he says.

Jones left the army and moved to Toronto in 2013 with hopes of attending U of T – but he didn’t get accepted on his first try. Determined to get in, he enrolled in Woodsworth College’s Academic Bridging Program, where he took a lone English course.

“I fell in love with English,” he says. “I fell in love with Robarts Library and the archives and just reading, so I ended up doing pretty well.”

Well enough, in fact, that he was accepted to U of T as a full-time student.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Jones then set his sights on a masters in creative writing, writing Fancy Gap – a novel about a family separated by illness and addiction in southern Appalachia – as his thesis project.

Outside of his studies, Jones also worked on a collection of poems, I Come Up From The Earth. Written from 2009 to 2021, the poems cover subjects such as his ethical concerns about serving in the army, the mental anguish surrounding his mother’s second bout with breast cancer and the intense nostalgia experienced upon returning to his home in the South to visit her. Tinderbox, a cycle of poetry from that book, was selected as a finalist for the 2023 Vallum Chapbook Poetry Award from the Montreal-based Vallum Society for Education in Arts & Letters.

When he decided to pursue a PhD and it came time to pick a program a year ago, the choice was easy, Jones says.

“Nothing was as attractive to me as U of T,” he says. “I even got into Oxford, but decided I wanted to be here.”

Jones’ doctoral research examines veteran narratives in American literature post-World War II, digging into the lives and surrounding literature of what he calls “bad veterans” who return home deeply affected from conflict.

“Veterans in American literature – especially in good novels, plays, movies, television shows – are not portrayed in the way that I want them to be, which is as complex and full characters,” he says.

The real-life stories of veterans are so powerful that they can have a profound effect in shifting perceptions of American identity and culture, Jones says.

He notes he’s keen to examine the life of notable veterans such as Lee Harvey Oswald – the former veteran who later assassinated U.S. president John F. Kennedy – in his writing, as well as whistleblowers such as Manning, Edward Snowden and Daniel Hale.

After completing his PhD, Jones hopes to divide his time equally between creative writing and academic teaching.

“Hopefully I can find a job like that – ideally in Toronto. I love the ��Ƶ. If I could stay here forever, I would.”

U of T Faculty of Dentistry graduates its largest cohort of military dentists since the World Wars

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 16:13:07 +0000

U of T Faculty of Dentistry graduates its largest cohort of military dentists since the World Wars

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 06/20/2019 - 12:13

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The full military cohort at U of T's Faculty of Dentistry, with Dean Daniel Haas (centre-left, bottom row), beside Vice-Dean of Education Jim Yuan Lai (centre-right, bottom row), who is also a reservist and major (photo by Jeff Comber)

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When she was ten years old, Ming Hao (Mary) Li moved to Edmonton, Alta, from one of China’s northernmost – and poorest – provinces. For a while, Li and her parents lived in a basement apartment in the home of her mother’s former English teacher, who helped the small family with their transition as immigrants.

They didn’t speak English well. They didn’t know Canada at all. But, having heard from a family friend that it would be a good experience, Li’s mother dragged the young Li to the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

“I hated it at first,” says Li. “I wanted to quit. But I guess I just never did.”

Cadets gave the young newcomer a sense of belonging. And it was that formative experience, and the mentors she found there, that led Li to roll her other passion – dentistry – into a full military career.

The two professions blend well together, with the Canadian military employing approximately 140 dentists (and many more physicians) at its 26 bases across the country. This spring, Li was one of 120 U of T dentistry students to graduate, but one of only seven to also add a military rank to their credentials: Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces – military dentists who will provide care for their military colleagues.

It’s the largest U of T Faculty of Dentistry cohort to graduate in service to the military since the World Wars. Including the recent graduates, there were a total of 18 enlisted service people at the faculty this year, including two majors.

While rising world tensions may have contributed to the large cohort, it doesn’t tell the whole story. The Canadian Armed Forces offer dental students a major advantage. Often joining the military during the first or second year of their dental degree, enlisted students concentrate on their studies throughout the school year. During the summer break, though, students are assigned to bases across Canada, where they are mentored by licensed dentists, earning valuable on-the-job training.

Like her fellow second lieutenants (the students’ rank prior to graduation) Taya McGillivary excelled under the army structure. For three years she played in the Canadian women’s military soccer program, making it to the semi-finals for Ontario last year.

But the Port Williams, N.S., native chose military dentistry for its unique learning opportunities. With the financing of her degree taken care of, she could focus on her studies. And she loved the on-the-job training she received at military clinics.

“Being able to spend summers doing dentistry was really appealing to me,” says McGillivary.

She worked at the Denison Armoury in Toronto and CFB Edmonton during her summer breaks. There, “with an oral surgeon six inches away from me,” she extracted over 100 impacted wisdom teeth and performed gingival grafts with a periodontist.

Thanks to the abundance of clinical experiences, McGillivary got better – and faster. She finished all of her clinical credits in early November, well ahead of convocation. And thanks to a “lightbulb moment” working for a mentor in the CFB Edmonton clinic, she’s decided to pursue a specialization in oral surgery.

It’s a sentiment that echoes true for Li. While the military might not pay as much as private practice, it offers budding dentists the chance to practise without the usual worries of finances, competition or large student loans. “I have the opportunity to practise ‘ideal dentistry’ when starting out. I just want to be good at what I do. I just want to do dentistry,” says Li.

For Marshell Kurniawan, who enlisted during his second year of dental school, the army offers a way to give back to the country that embraced him as a child. He and his family emigrated from Indonesia to Brampton when he was seven years old. Like Li, Kurniawan and his family learned the language once they arrived. He learned the importance of communication, so vital to patient care, and how to adapt to different environments – a skill necessary in military life.

Once he gets to his post-graduation posting in Petawawa, Ont., Kurniawan will work alongside three to four senior dentists as well as classmate Hwabin Lee. He likes the group identity, the feeling that everyone in his platoon is accountable to one another.

“There’s built-in mentorship in the army,” which is so important to fledgling dentists, says Kurniawan. If you need help with a third molar extraction, for instance, “there’s usually an oral surgeon on base. You either shadow them or assist them.”

Li agrees. “Especially in your first year after graduation, you won’t be comfortable doing certain procedures without supervision. But because the supervision is there, it opens up more doors to collaborate with the specialists and GPs on base.”

Typically, a military dentist will give Canada four years of service post-graduation. Some, like McGillivary, will leave early to follow specializations. But some, like Kurniawan, will build entire military careers.

“I really want to stay in the army,” says Kurniawan. “Hopefully I’ll be there for the long run, though I might like to work in a private clinic on weekends.”

November 11: U of T Remembers

lavende4 — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 20:41:57 +0000

November 11: U of T Remembers

lavende4 Wed, 11/09/2016 - 15:41

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The University’s Remembrance Day service outside of Hart House in 1947 (Photo: U of T Archives)

Terry Lavender

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Terry Lavender and Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

Remembering the veterans of Sunnybrook

An interview with physical therapy student Danny Slack, who spent five weeks interning at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre.

In Memoriam: remembering the First World War at U of T

Archivist Harold Averill discusses the war that changed the world.

In Flanders Fields: why the iconic poem by U of T alumnus endures, 100 years later

As Canadians commemorate Remembrance Day this year, many will reflect on the solemn beauty and eloquent simplicity of the iconic war poem, In Flanders Fields. This is the 100th anniversary of the poem written by ��Ƶ alumnus John McCrae, a Canadian doctor who was in the trenches during World War I.

We will do our share

U of T archivist Loryl MacDonald takes us through the Fisher Library's exhibition, We Will Do Our Share: The ��Ƶ and the Great War.

Dr. Homer Tien: from the battlefield to the ER

Dr. Homer Tien, recipient of the Order of Military Merit and assistant professor at U of T and director, trauma services, at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, recalls his exceptional advancements.

Canadian Forces: alumna retires after serving as surgeon general

Few people have served nearly four decades in the Canadian Forces. Fewer of these are doctors. Fewer still are women. And only one of these – ��Ƶ medicine graduate Dr. Hilary F. Jaeger— has retired with the rank of brigadier general after serving as surgeon general of the Canadian Forces.

What can civilian hospitals learn from the military? Just ask this high school dropout turned trauma surgeon

Dr. Andrew Beckett is a highly credentialed trauma surgeon who has spent nearly two decades in the Canadian Forces – and whose work in war zones has led him to ask questions that never occur to most of his research colleagues back home.