Jack Russell Weinstein - Life and Education

Life and Education

Jack Russell Weinstein was born on October 1, 1969, in New York City, to parents Joyce Ellen (artist and high school teacher) and Mark Weinstein (philosopher and jazz flute-player). He grew up in Washington Heights, Manhattan, and initially fared poorly in school. He went on to college at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh through a students-at-risk program. It was there that his academic interest flourished, where he was able to pursue his long-held interests in reading, writing, and learning in the free university environment. He began his studies in English but quickly changed to Philosophy with a minor in Political Science. While in school, Weinstein participated actively in politics and became a political organizer for student issues around New York state. He was also a D.J. for a ska show on WPLT 93.9 FM, and worked on the student paper as editor in chief and a columnist. Receiving his undergraduate diploma in 1991, he went on to graduate school at Boston University, where he received his M.A. in 1996 and Ph.D. in 1998, both in Philosophy.

Weinstein deliberated extensively whether or not to go on to graduate school or continue as a political organizer, an activity he had immersed himself in during his college years. He was named plaintiff in a class action suit (Cianfrocco & Weinstein v. Clinton County Board of Elections, 1989—the name is not exact) intended to give college students in New York the right to vote in their college towns, and leading a contingent of over a hundred students who stormed the State House in Albany, New York. That same day, his image appeared in the front page of more than fifty newspapers across the state. He and others were protesting tuition hikes in the State University System by hosting a mock funeral to portray "the death of public education." The image showed Weinstein lying blindfolded by a baby's coffin.

In 1994, Weinstein travelled to Vienna, Austria where he served as a Junior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (Insituut fuer die Wissenschaften vom Menschen/IWM). The fellowship lasted only six months, but he stayed in Vienna, playing guitar as a street musician for six months, before managing to get another fellowship at IWM. According to Weinstein, “It was, by far, one of the best things I ever did. I learned so much about myself and the world from being outside of the country and by taking some time away from my academic trajectory to explore other interests.” He returned to the states to teach as an adjunct professor and finish his dissertation, "Adam Smith and the Problem of Neutrality in Contemporary Liberal Theory."

After moving to teach at California State University, Fresno, Weinstein met Kim Donehower, a fellow professor in the English department. They eventually moved together to Grand Forks, North Dakota to accept teaching positions at the University of North Dakota. Currently, Donehower-Weinstein is a professor in the English department and director of the local site of the National Writing Project. A chance meeting with Richard Simmons, at Detroit Metro Airport reportedly led Weinstein to propose to Donehower and the two were married in January, 2003, in Donehower’s home town of Asheville, North Carolina. On October 18, 2005, Donehower gave birth to their first child, a daughter: Adina Moore. Weinstein's activist roots resurfaced during recent controversies regarding anti-Semitism at The University of North Dakota. He advocated for the defense of harassed Jewish students and led criticism against the then university president Charles Kupchella. The battle was extremely public and ugly at times.