Michael Owen Jones

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Michael Owen Jones (born 1942) [1] is an American Folklorist and Emeritus Professor in the World Arts and Cultures/Dance Program at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). [2]

Contents

Jones has wide-ranging research interests: he is particularly known for his research on folk medicine and on foodways but has also researched on other of genres of folklore including "folk belief, speech... arts and crafts and poetry". [3]

Early life and education

Jones studied at the University of Kansas, earning a BA in history, Art and Political Science in 1960. He studied Folklore at Indiana University Bloomington earning a MA in 1964 and a Ph.D. (in Folklore and American Studies) in 1970. [3] His Ph.D. dissertation was titled 'Chairmaking in Appalachia; a study in style and creative imagination in American folk art'. [4]

Career

Jones moved to a position at UCLA in 1968 in the Folklore and Mythology Program and remained there for the entirety of his career. [3] He was a founding member of UCLA's Interdepartmental Program in World Arts & Cultures in 1973. [2]

Jones has conducted fieldwork in "Western Canada and the Maritimes as well as Appalachia, the Great Plains, and Southern California". [2]

Jones has authored over 230 academic works. [2] He was also a general editor of the Folk Art and Artists Series, University Press of Mississippi. [5]

In 2021, Jones co-launched the Archive of Feeling, [6] "one of the largest databases of medicinal folklore from around the world", [7] based in part on material collected by Jones that became part of the UCLA Archive of American Folk Medicine. [8] [9]

Recognition

He has received funding from a number of organisations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, Skaggs Foundation, Canadian Museum of Civilization and the National Institutes of Health. [2]

He is a Fellow of the American Folklore Society (AFS) and a former member of the AFS's executive board. He is also a former President of the AFS, serving in that role between 2004 and 2005. [10] His Presidential Address focused on foodways. [11]

Jones is also a former President of the California Folklore Society and has served as a council member of the California Council for the Humanities. [9]

He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and also a Fellow of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters, and the Society for Applied Anthropology. [2]

His book Frankenstein Was a Vegetarian: Essays on Food Choice, Identity, and Symbolism was nominated for the Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year in 2022. [12]

Selected publications

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References

  1. ↑ "Michael Owen Jones (interview)". digital.lib.usu.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Michael Owen Jones". www.wacd.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  3. 1 2 3 Georges, Robert A. (2008). "Michael Owen Jones: Folklorist "Extraordinaire"". Western Folklore. 67 (2/3): 140–144. ISSN   0043-373X. JSTOR   25474910 . Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  4. ↑ Jones, Michael Owen (1969). Chairmaking in Appalachia; a study in style and creative imagination in American folk art. worldcat.org (Thesis). Place of publication not identified. OCLC   1108791973 . Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  5. ↑ "Folk Art and Artists Series | University Press of Mississippi". www.upress.state.ms.us. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  6. ↑ "Home Page". The Archive of Healing. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  7. ↑ "UCLA professor launches digital Archive of Healing™". www.wac.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  8. ↑ "UCLA researchers digitize massive collection of folk medicine". UCLA. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  9. 1 2 Adams, Elizabeth T.; Posey, Sandra Mizumoto; Shukla, Pravina (2008). "Man of Constant Inspiration: Essays in Honor of Michael Owen Jones". Western Folklore. 67 (2/3): 145–161. ISSN   0043-373X. JSTOR   25474911 . Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  10. ↑ "Past AFS Presidents". The American Folklore Society. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  11. ↑ Jones, Michael Owen (2007). "Food Choice, Symbolism, and Identity: Bread-and-Butter Issues for Folkloristics and Nutrition Studies (American Folklore Society Presidential Address, October 2005)". The Journal of American Folklore. 120 (476): 129–177. ISSN   0021-8715. JSTOR   4137687 . Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  12. ↑ "Oddest Book Title of the Year shortlist announced for The Diagram Prize 2022". The Bookseller. November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
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