Dr. David Jones, Ph.D.
Contact Information
Biography
I am a Professor of English. In the past, I have had leadership roles for the UWEC Honors Program and the Departments of History, English, and Integrated Studies.
As a professor, my primary fields are African American literature and American Cultural Studies. My faculty peers in English would probably describe my approach to teaching as “New Historicism” or “Cultural Studies.” For me, historical and cultural contexts are just as important as literary expression, and in a typical class of mine, nonfiction readings supplement works of poetry, fiction, and drama.
One of my strong interests is in current events and providing lenses for students to understand how past developments inform everyday life and culture in the 21st century. To that end, I have recently done research, professional presentations, and faculty workshops on teaching sensitive and controversial issues in classrooms.
I am also a professional musician (a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter) who performs under the names Davey J & Friends and Davey J and the Jones Tones. Music is definitely a passion, as I have published five original music CDs with my own independent label, B Major Productions (the most recent CDs are 2020 Blue and Chippewa Love). In music industry language, our style would probably be “Americana” or “Roots,” but there are elements of rock, blues, reggae, indie, folk, and even jazz in my music.
In my past creative work, I also produced and hosted two radio programs on popular music and Wisconsin culture for Wisconsin Public Radio: Jazz, Blues, and Beyond and Wisconsin Wealth. I really enjoy maintaining a flexible and relevant range of academic interests, and I’m so thankful that innovation is welcome at UWEC.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Minnesota (English Literature)
- M.A., University of Nevada-Las Vegas (English, Composition Emphasis)
- B.A., University of Iowa (English Education)
- Certified Trainer, 7 Habits for Highly Effective People (Franklin-Covey)
Teaching and Research Interests
- U.S. Cultural Studies
- Teaching Sensitive and Controversial Issues
- African American Literature
- History of US Popular Music
- Inclusive Excellence and Honors Education
- History and Legacy of the Black Arts Movement
- Race, Ethnicity, and Media Representation
- Integrative Studies in Cultural Identity
- American Literature and Culture of the 1950s
Published Research
Jones, David M. "Bring It On Home": Constructions of Social Class in Soul and Rhythm and Blues Music, 1949 - 1980." Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music and Social Class, Bloomsbury Press, 2020: 465-485.
Jones, David M. “From Good Intentions to Educational Equity: Occupying Honors through Inclusive Excellence.” Occupy Honors. Eds. Lisa Coleman and Jonathan Kotinek. National Collegiate Honors Council Press, 2017: 33-80.
Jones, David M. “Identity without Borders: June Jordan and the Legacy of Post-Civil Rights Black Feminism.” Published in Social Justice and American Literature. Eds. Jeff Berkenstein and Robert Hauhart. Salem Press/Grey House, 2017: 3-19.
Jones, David M. “A Little Bit Married While Black: A Personal and Political Meditation on Single Adulthood, Heterosexism, and Enduring Love.” Internet Journal for Gender Studies 63 (July 2017): 52-73.
Jones, David M. “Revoking the Privilege of Forgetting: White SupremacyInterrogated in 12 Years a Slave.” Movies in the Age of Obama. Ed. David Izzo. Rowman and Littlefield, 2015: 235-238.
Jones, David M. A New Breed of Black Consciousness: Re-reading Gender, Ideology, and Generational Change in Neo-Black Literature and Cultural Criticism. Scholars Press, 2013.
Jones, David M. “Privileging the Popular at What Price? A Discussion of Joan Morgan, Hip Hop Feminism, and Radical Politics.” Authentic Blackness, “Real” Blackness: Essays on the Meaning of Blackness in Literature and Culture. Ed. Martin Japtok. Peter Lang, 2011: 67-84.
Jones, David M., and Joanne Juett, Eds. Coming Out to the Mainstream: New Queer Cinema in the 21st Century. Cambridge Scholars Press, 2010.
Jones, David M. “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with the Great Jamesetta.” Singing for Themselves: Essays on Women in Popular Music. Ed. Patricia Rudden. Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008: 2-24.
Jones, David M. “Postmodernism, Pop Music, and Blues Practice in Nelson George’s Post-Soul Culture.” African American Review 41.4 (Winter 2008): 667-694.
Jones, David M. “Literary Regionalism and the Confinements of Class: A Revisionist Historical Reading of Jessie Fauset’s Plum Bun.”Tamking Review 38 (Winter 2007): 87-115.
Jones, David M. “To Be Young, Countercultural, and Black.” Growing Up Postmodern: Neoliberalism and the War on the Young. Eds. Ronald Strickland and Henry Giroux. Rowman and Littlefield, 2002: 221-246.
Jones, David M. “Women’s Lib, Gender Theory, and the Politics of Home: How I Became a Black Male Feminist.” Feminist Teacher 13.3 (Fall 2001): 213-224.
Honors And Recognition
- University Fellow, UWEC, 2025 - present
- Honors Fellow, National Collegiate Honors Council, 2023 - present.
- Visiting Scholar, Center for 21st Century Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2023 - 2024
- Fulbright Award, Japan-US Educational Commission, 2019 - 2021
- Elected Member, Board of Directors, National Collegiate Honors Council, 2018 – 2021
- Outstanding Research Poster Award, Faculty-Student Research Symposium, National Collegiate Honors Council Conference, 2016
- Distinguished Member Award, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, 2016
- University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Excellence in Faculty Service Award, 2015.
- Wisconsin State Board of Regents Diversity Award, UWEC Honors Program, 2012
- Feminist Teacher Award, UWEC Women’s Studies Program, 2010
- John Morris Fellowship Award, UWEC English Department, 2008/2013
- Favorite Professor Certificate, UWEC Towers North Hall, 2008
- Lifetime Achievement Award, Office of Multicultural Affairs, UWEC, 2006