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John L. Jackson, Jr.

Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology

Prof. Jackson is a film producer and urban anthropologist who earned his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University in 2000. His first book, Harlemworld: Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2001. John is also an independent filmmaker who as produced a nationally distributed documentary, several internationally screened film-shorts, and an award-winning 16mm feature film. His motion pictures have been shown in many places, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, London, and Rotterdam. From 1999-2002 he was a scholar at Harvard University's Society of Fellows, and he and his wife both joined Duke's Department of Cultural Anthropology in Fall 2002.

Deborah, who received her Ph.D. from New York University in 2000, specializes in the Carribean. She has received numerous fellowships to support her research in Bahia (Brazil), Harlem, and Jamaica, including grants from the Ford and Mellon Foundations and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Her book, Modern Blackness: Nationalism, Globalization, and the Politics of Culture in Jamaica, is scheduled for publication by Duke University Press. For many years prior to her entrance into the academic world, Deborah was a professional dancer with the New York-based Urban Bush Women, performing in cities across the United States as well as throughout Europe, Latin America, and Africa.

All Giles residents should know from the get-go that Profs. Jackson and Thomas are unrelentingly fanatical followers of Duke Women's Basketball. So they'll expect to see you at Cameron. Go Duke!

Resides with wife Deborah A. Thomas

108 Social Sciences
+1 919 668 5252
jackson5@duke.edu
Residence: 103 Giles (613-1828)