In 1998, James co-founded Music Industry Workshop, a sound engineering and music production certificate program, taught at Metropolis Music Complex and Studio Chicago.  After a decade of teaching weekend afternoon classes and becoming a genuinely good teacher, James decided to make education a priority.

His skill set made him a natural fit at Flashpoint Chicago. James began teaching there in February 2008, and received the Distinguished Faculty Award in May 2016.  Flashpoint will cease operations in May 2022.  James welcomes further opportunities to continue working in the realm of education.

He says: "Inspiring people to develop creativity and critical thinking skills is a crucial responsibility that is shamefully neglected in our society.  By working as an educator, I believe that I am doing my part to strengthen our collective future, while also encouraging specific individuals to grow.  Helping others is important, and working in education is where I can best do so.  Teaching classes in sound and acoustics also keeps my own mind sharp, and helps to feed my own ceaseless curiosity about the natural world.  It also motivates me to stay current with technology, while providing myself with a satisfying intellectual balance against the lighter subject matter of my books, which are meant purely as entertainment."