Professor Emeritus, Program Coordinator, Communications/Humanities

John Shafer, who retired in 2024, is proud to have been a community college faculty member, one of the best jobs in the world, he said, as it is true education for the people. And, he added, “I can’t think of a better place to teach than on the beautiful Middlesex campus with its great students, dedicated fellow faculty members and enthusiastic group of supporting staff, administrators and community volunteers.”

Professor Emeritus Shafer served as a full professor and senior faculty member, where he taught since 1986. He divided his teaching load between courses in film and media and philosophy and religion. He also served as program coordinator of the Communication & New Media Production program and the Theatre Studies program. Prior to this, he served as chair of the Humanities-Arts Division and coordinator of the Broadcast Communications program. He is co-founder of the college’s Digital Arts/Multimedia program and has authored major revisions to the Communication, Broadcast Communication, Liberal Arts & Science, and General Studies programs as well as proposing and implementing over 30 new courses at Middlesex. He played a key role in reestablishing the journalism and theatre disciplines. Along with this, he co-founded the former student newspaper, The Flying Horse, and annual summer performing arts festivals in ballet and Shakespeare in the Grove, in partnership with the Connecticut Ballet and ARTFARM. In 2008, he co-developed the nationally recognized Connecticut Film Industry Training program held at Middlesex.

Recently, Professor Emeritus Shafer focused his efforts on sustainability issues and co-founded the Sustainability Team that helped implement a sustainability priority in the campus strategic plan. He received the Board of Trustees Merit Award for academic excellence twice as well as two Professional Staff Awards for service to students.

Originally from California, Professor Emeritus Shafer attended the University of Southern California as an undergraduate humanities major, then moved east to attend graduate school at Syracuse University, where he studied film and media, and the University of Connecticut, where he studied philosophy. He also studied and worked in Europe for two years, mostly in London and Paris, which he considers two of the most stimulating years of his life.

Previously and while teaching at Middlesex, Professor Emeritus Shafer worked in film and television for many years. His production credits include work in feature films, commercials, documentaries, children’s programming and music videos, as well as educational and corporate videos. He has done several projects in cooperation with Connecticut Public Television; worked on the feature film, The Natural; crewed on a music video for Sting; produced political ads for Governor Jerry Brown; and co-produced the award-winning, nationally syndicated TV show, Kid Stuff. His work received an Emmy, (3) Awards for Cable Excellence (ACE), (2) Action for Children’s Television Awards, as well as Telly and Communicator Awards.

Professor Emeritus Shafer also has a long-time interest in human values, the nature of consciousness and trying to understand the meaning of our current human condition, which he believes is in a state of crisis and transformation. This greatly motivated his ongoing study of philosophy, religion, spirituality, culture, history and the transition movement. In addition to formal studies in philosophy and religion, he studied and practiced a variety of inner traditions including Yoga, Zen Buddhist meditation, Transpersonal Psychology, Grof Holotropic Breathing, Sufism, Shamanism and Native American culture and spirituality. He has traveled extensively, including most of Europe, Israel, northern Africa, India and Russia, as well as in the United States, Canada and northern Mexico.

A Portland resident, he is the proud father of four homeschooled children. He feels parenting has taught him more about human nature than any academic studies. One of his personal goals is to try and establish a mostly self-sustaining intentional community, or eco-village, in Connecticut that could help serve as a model for a more sustainable way of living.