College of Liberal Arts

Now an award winning music video director and aspiring filmmaker, alumni Jonathan Bowen remembers his Corvallis roots.

“I can tell you that my major from OSU is something that matters to me and that serves as my background in what I do with film,” the 2006 College of Liberal Arts graduate said. “It was important for me to select a major like philosophy, because I wanted to be making projects with some sort of thoughtful angle of philosophical significance to it. That’s my signature, if you will.”

Inspired by the passion and enthusiasm of a crowd that waited in line all day for tickets to the re-release of Star Wars, Bowen realized his filmmaking destiny at age 15. 

‘“I heard a great quote later from a film professor who said how much power filmmakers have, and put it this way, "If you can change the way people think, you can change the way people act, and if you can change the way people act, you can change the world,"’ Bowen said. “I felt that was really true, and powerful, that something a lot of people see as an entertainment medium does have the power to change the way people think about issues, too, even if it's often subconscious.”

By the time the Portland native joined the Liberal Arts community, he had already written his first book. Anticipation: The Real Life Story of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace was published a month after graduation and a Corvallis promotional book tour soon followed, landing him on the front page of the Gazette-Times and the Daily Barometer. But that wasn’t Bowen’s first shot at Corvallis fame.

During his senior year, a paper he wrote for a philosophy class taught by Dr. Bill Uzgalis won the Best Undergraduate Philosophy paper.

“My education at OSU was definitely helpful to my success today and what I've done after graduation, I think primarily because the philosophy department and the professors I had, who were all excellent, helped turn my inquisitive mind into a more disciplined, thoughtful one,” Bowen said. “I was always curious and always interested in thinking outside the box, but I hadn't learned formal debate principles and the specifics of how to argue a point effectively, nor had I been exposed to as many ideas and philosophies before.”

As the director and producer of JLB Media Productions in Los Angeles, Bowen founded the company to financially support his film endeavors. He admits that incorporating philosophy into mainstream film will have to start small and grow as his own career blossoms.

“Philosophy is fascinating, but it has to be presented properly to be accessible to the mainstream,” Bowen said. “I love reading philosophy books, but the simple fact is that most people won't sit around reading philosophy anymore, so these ideas need to be conveyed in a more effective medium. I think rather than to be bitter about people reading less, and fight that trend, it's better to embrace new mediums, like film, and find ways where you can present philosophical arguments in attractive, mainstream but not dumbed-down ways.”

In his first big music video, Bowen used symbolism and visuals to incorporate philosophy as he develop the storyline – the inner turmoil of a young man who was struggling with the decision to stay with his girlfriend or leave.  Hailed by critics as a major success, “Winded” by the band Rockchild has been featured at 16 film festivals and won Best Music Video at the Myrtle Beach Film Fest, the Golden Lion Award for Best Music Video at the George Lindsey UNA, and was nominated Best Music Video at Action on Film in Pasadena, California.

“At the end of his senior year, Jonathan self-published two books,” Associate Professor of Philosophy, Joseph Orosco said. “One was a collection of all his essays in philosophy.  I have it on my shelf, and whenever I get a stack of bad papers to grade, I pull it down and have a look to remind myself of what really smart and wonderful work OSU students are capable of.  It inspires me to be a better teacher to try and bring that kind of drive and love of learning out in more people.  Jonathan was exceptional, but he showed that OSU has the opportunities to make many people excel.”

By Taryn Luna