John L. Jackson Jr.

Last updated
John Jackson
Born1971 (age 5253)
Education
Spouse Deborah A. Thomas
Children2

John L. Jackson Jr. is an American anthropologist, filmmaker, author, and university administrator. He is currently the provost and Richard Perry University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Jackson earned his B.A. from Howard University and his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University. He served as a junior fellow at the Harvard University Society of Fellows before joining the Cultural Anthropology faculty at Duke University.

Contents

Personal life

Jackson is married to Deborah A. Thomas, [1] the R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. [2] They have two children and reside in South Philadelphia. [3]

Early life and education

Jackson was born in 1971. He hosted a comic radio show called "The Jackson Attraction" during his junior and senior years of high school in Brooklyn, New York. [4] In 1993, he graduated summa cum laude from Howard University with a B.A. in communications. While attending Howard, Jackson was supported by the University Merit Scholarship (1989-1993) and the Ronald E. McNair Scholarship (1992-1993). He received a National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship to pursue graduate work at Columbia University, earning an M.A. (1994), an M.Phil. (1998), and a Ph.D. (2000) with distinction in anthropology. His dissertation was supported by the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. [5] [6]

Career

After getting his doctorate, Jackson spent two years as a Junior Fellow at the Harvard University Society of Fellows in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [7] From 2002 to 2006, he taught cultural anthropology as an assistant professor at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. [5] In 2006, he became the first Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and. [8] He served as the Richard Perry University Professor of Communication and Anthropology and Professor of Africana Studies. [9] In 2014 he was named Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, [10] [11] and in 2019, Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. [12] Since 2023, he has served as Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. [13]

Jackson is a founding member of CAMRA and PIVPE, two Penn-based groups dedicated to the creation of visual and performance research initiatives and the development of rigorous evaluation criteria. [14]

Research

Real Black

In Real Black, Jackson proposed a new model for thinking about "authentic" black culture issues: racial sincerity. Jackson asserts that the caricatures of identity that racial authenticity impose on people locks them into stereotypes. Sincerity, he argues, treats authenticity as an analytical model that seeks to deny people's freedom of choice in the search for identities. The book is based on more than a decade of ethnographic studies around New York City, including stories from police officers, conspiracy theorists, and gospel choir singers. [15] Jackson's invented alter ego, Anthroman, finds ethnographic significance in everyday buildings, showing how race is defined, debated, imposed, and confounded every day. [16]

Racial Paranoia

In this book, Jackson distinguishes racist paranoia (fear and suspicion of the hidden form of racism) from racism (observable act of racism and prejudice). He argues that racism actually becomes more pronounced as explicit social discrimination subsides. Jackson uses examples from current events and everyday interactions to show its serious impact on racially paranoid culture and the lives of all Americans. He explains how it is cultivated, communicated, and strengthened—and how it complicates the goal of racial equality in the United States. [17]

Thin Description

Thin Description: Ethnography and the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem is based on the group of African Americans from varying backgrounds who sold their belongings and left the United States to relocate to Liberia in 1966. [18] It recounts the group’s journey from their relocation and eventual move to the modern state of Israel, where the community has lived since 1969. Through this, Jackson attempts to understand the way in which African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem navigate questions about the links between race and spirituality. Additionally, he explores challenges in anthropology research, especially as it pertains to conducting research on groups already searching for themselves and their identities. [19]

Awards

Works

Books

Films

Related Research Articles

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Penn Carey Law offers the degrees of Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.), Master of Comparative Laws (LL.C.M.), Master in Law (M.L.), and Doctor of the Science of Law (S.J.D.).

<i>The Daily Pennsylvanian</i> Student newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. is the independent student media organization of the University of Pennsylvania. The DP, Inc. publishes The Daily Pennsylvanian newspaper, 34th Street magazine, and Under the Button, as well as five newsletters: The Daily Pennsylvanian, The Weekly Roundup, The Toast, Quaker Nation, and Penn, Unbuttoned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies</span> Postdoctoral research center focused on Judaism

The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania—commonly called the Katz Center—is a postdoctoral research center devoted to the study of Jewish history and civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University City, Philadelphia</span> Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States

University City is the easternmost portion of West Philadelphia, encompassing several Philadelphia universities. It is situated directly across the Schuylkill River from Center City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel George Morton</span> American physician and naturalist (1799–1851)

Samuel George Morton was an American physician, natural scientist, and writer. As one of the early figures of scientific racism, he argued against monogenism, the single creation story of the Bible, instead supporting polygenism, a theory of multiple racial creations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elihu Katz</span> American and Israeli sociologist (1926–2021)

Elihu Katz was an American-Israeli sociologist and communication scientist whose expertise was uses and gratifications theory. He authored over 20 books and 175 articles and book chapters during his lifetime and is acknowledged as one of "the founding fathers of regular television broadcasts in Israel."

Oscar H. Gandy Jr., retired since 2006, is a scholar of the political economy of information who was the Herbert Schiller Professor of Communication studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. His work spans many subjects, including privacy, race, information technology, media framing, media development, and educational subsidy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Roberts</span> American sociologist, law professor, and social justice advocate

Dorothy E. Roberts is an American sociologist, law professor, and social justice advocate. She is the Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, George A. Weiss University Professor, and inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights at the University of Pennsylvania. She writes and lectures on gender, race, and class in legal issues. Her focuses include reproductive health, child welfare, and bioethics. In 2023, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society. She has published over 80 articles and essays in books and scholarly journals, including Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Stanford Law Review.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penn Quakers</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Pennsylvania

The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing.

The Friars Senior Society of the University of Pennsylvania, commonly nicknamed Friars, is the oldest undergraduate secret society at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1899, it recognizes student leaders who have made a significant contribution to the university in all areas of campus life. The organization remains the most active secret senior society at the university with over 2,000 alumni in the United States and 24 countries throughout the world.

Camille Z. Charles is an American sociologist. She serves as Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, Africana Studies & Education and Director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She served as the first chair of Penn's Africana Studies Department, founded in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Anthony Richardson</span> American novelist

Marc Anthony Richardson is an American novelist and artist. He won an American Book Award and a Creative Capital Award.

Carolyn Moxley Rouse is an American anthropologist, professor and filmmaker. She is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University.

Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South—An Oral History is a 2008 ethnographic oral history of the lives of Black gay men in the Southern United States by scholar and performer E. Patrick Johnson, who himself grew up in rural North Carolina, and is openly gay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah A. Thomas</span> American anthropologist

Deborah A. Thomas is an American anthropologist and filmmaker, and is the R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography at the University of Pennsylvania. She has published books and articles on the history, culture, and politics of Jamaica; and on human rights, sexuality, and globalization in the Caribbean arena. She has co-produced and co-directed two experimental films, and has co-curated a multimedia exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. In 2016, she began a four-year term as editor-in-chief of the journal American Anthropologist. Before pursuing her career as an anthropologist, Thomas performed as a professional dancer with Urban Bush Women, a New York dance company that used art to promote social equity by illuminating the experiences of disenfranchised people.

Katrina Alison Armstrong is an American internist. She is the chief executive officer of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Armstrong is the first woman to lead Columbia's medical school and medical center. She was the first woman to hold the position of Physician-in-Chief at Massachusetts General Hospital and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2013 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.

Roxanne Leslie Euben is an American political scientist specializing in Islamic political thought. She is Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences, at the University of Pennsylvania.

Vivian Lynette Gadsden is an American psychologist who is an education researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research considers the social and cultural factors that affect learning and literacy. She is interested in intergenerational learning within African-American families.

References

  1. "John L. Jackson, Jr. | Samuel S. Fels Fund". www.samfels.org. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  2. "Deborah Thomas | Penn GSE". www.gse.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  3. "Ultimate Anthropologist: John Jackson, Dean of Penn's School of Social Policy & Practice". Penn Today. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  4. "Episode 2: Which GIF with John Jackson | Episodes | Pop and Play | Podcasts | Digital Futures Institute (DFI) | Teachers College, Columbia University". Teachers College - Columbia University.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 https://www.sp2.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Jackson-2017.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  6. "John L. Jackson, Jr., Ph.D." www.asc.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  7. "Listed by Field". socfell.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  8. "Penn names new dean of school for communication". AP News. February 9, 2018.
  9. "John L. Jackson Jr. | Penn Arts & Sciences Endowed Professors". web.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  10. "John L. Jackson, Jr., Ph.D." www.asc.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
  11. "John L. Jackson Jr. | Africana Studies". africana.sas.upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  12. "John L. Jackson, Jr. Named Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication | Annenberg School for Communication". 6 February 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-02-06. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  13. "John L. Jackson Jr. named Penn's next provost". Penn Today. 2023-01-25. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  14. "Faculty/Alumni". CAMRA at Penn. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  15. Anyabwile, Thabiti (29 August 2012). "Performing "Race" Sincerely: A Review of John L. Jackson's "Real Black: Adventures in Racial Sincerity"". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  16. "The future of Annenberg, with John L. Jackson Jr. at the helm". Penn Today. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  17. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/bdr/article/download/1178/1241/5087 [ bare URL PDF ]
  18. Rouse, Carolyn M. (2015). "Thin Description: Ethnography and the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem. John Jackson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013. 394 pp". American Ethnologist. 42 (1): 176–177. doi:10.1111/amet.12124_2. ISSN   1548-1425.
  19. Jackson, John L. Jr. (2013-11-04). Thin Description. Harvard University Press. doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674726253. ISBN   978-0-674-72625-3.
  20. "04/24/12, School of Arts & Sciences Teaching Awards - Almanac, Vol. 58, No. 31". almanac.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  21. "Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty | Penn Faculty Fellows" . Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  22. "AAA President's Award - Connect with AAA". www.americananthro.org. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  23. "Critics' Choice Book Awards". www.educationalstudies.org. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  24. "John Hope Franklin Prize | ASA". www.theasa.net. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  25. "Nonfiction Book Review: Real Black: Adventures in Racial Sincerity by John L. Jackson, Jr., Author University of Chicago Press $20 (298p) ISBN 978-0-226-39002-4". PublishersWeekly.com. November 2005. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  26. "Nonfiction Book Review: HARLEMWORLD: Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America by John L. Jackson, Jr., Author Univ. of Chicago $30 (299p) ISBN 978-0-226-38998-1". Publishers Weekly. September 24, 2001. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  27. Heynen, Nik; Moore, Toby; Smith, Jonathan M. (2005-03-01). "Harlemworld: Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America. John L. Jackson; Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of City Redistricting. Joshua G. Behr; Place: A Short Introduction. Tim Cresswell". Urban Geography. 26 (2): 193–196. doi:10.2747/0272-3638.26.2.193. ISSN   0272-3638. S2CID   144989172.
  28. Cha-Jua, Sundiata Keita (2003-03-01). "Harlemworld: Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America". Journal of American History. 89 (4): 1623. doi:10.2307/3092702. ISSN   0021-8723. JSTOR   3092702. Archived from the original on 2017-10-04.
  29. Smalls, Krystal A. (2013-10-01). "Real Black: Adventures in Racial Sincerity. A1 - John L. Jackson, Jr . Chicago, IL, and London, UK: PB - The University of Chicago Press, 2005. [vii] + 298 pp. (Cloth US$59.00; Paper US$20.00)". Transforming Anthropology. 21 (2): 205–207. doi:10.1111/traa.12015_6. ISSN   1548-7466.
  30. Young, Vershawn Ashanti (2006-09-01). "A Review of: "Real Black: Adventures in Racial Sincerity by John L. Jackson"". Souls. 8 (3): 204–206. doi:10.1080/10999940600890296. ISSN   1099-9949. S2CID   145404777.
  31. "Nonfiction Book Review: Real Black: Adventures in Racial Sincerity by John L. Jackson, Jr., Author University of Chicago Press $20 (298p) ISBN 978-0-226-39002-4". Publishers Weekly. October 31, 2005. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  32. "RACIAL PARANOIA The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness: The New Reality of Race in America by John L. Jackson Jr". Kirkus Reviews. May 20, 2010. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  33. "Nonfiction Book Review: Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness by John L. Jackson, Jr., Author Basic $26 (274p) ISBN 978-0-465-00216-0". Publishers Weekly. February 11, 2008. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  34. Doss, Adeyemi (2010). "John L. Jackson, Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness". Black Diaspora Review. 1 (2): 39–41. ISSN   2334-1521. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26.
  35. Withrow, Brian L. (2010-03-01). Book Review: Jackson, J. L. Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness New York, NY: Basic Civitas, 2008, 278 pp . Vol. 35. pp.  127–128. doi:10.1177/0734016809349168. ISBN   978-0465002160. ISSN   0734-0168. S2CID   146502808.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  36. "Nonfiction Book Review: Impolite Conversations: On Race, Politics, Sex, Money, and Religion by Cora Daniels and John L. Jackson Jr. Atria, $25 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4767-3911-3". Publishers Weekly. June 2, 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  37. Bass, Patrik Henry (2014-09-18). "She Say, He Say: Cora Daniels' Provocative New Book". Essence. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  38. "IMPOLITE CONVERSATIONS On Race, Politics, Sex, Money, and Religion by Cora Daniels; John L. Jackson Jr". Kirkus Reviews. June 19, 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  39. Raymond, Emilie (January 2019). "Televised Redemption: Black Religious Media and Racial Empowerment. By Carolyn Moxley Rouse, John L. Jackson, Jr., and Marla F. Frederick". Journal of Social History. 52 (3): 1011–1013. doi:10.1093/jsh/shx054. S2CID   148749586.
  40. "Bad Friday". badfridaythemovie.com. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
  41. "Making Sweet Tea". Making Sweet Tea. Retrieved 2021-11-06.