Joe Jones is an assistant professor of journalism in the Reed School of Media and Communications at West Virginia University.

How did you become involved with AJHA?

In 2017 during my doctoral program, I was a research assistant for longtime member, Earnest Perry. While looking up some research for him, I found some fascinating documents on the tobacco industry and funding of the Black press. We then started a side project and dug a little deeper. He then recommended we take it to AJHA which was in Salt Lake City in 2018. I met some other early career folks there like Bailey Dick and Ashley Walters and the rest was history (pun intended)! 

You describe yourself as an interdisciplinary scholar, how does that outlook inform your research?

I received my bachelor’s in history in the early 2000s at a small liberal arts school. At that time, postmodernism had challenged the fundamentals of the discipline. One response was to approach the world as radically interconnected, resisting the silos of discipline-specific thinking. I was also taking classes on philosophy, global politics (9/11 was a big influence on my course selection), gender, and colonization. Combine this with my master’s degree in German history (and the work of the Frankfurt School) and the advanced feminist theory of my doctoral program, and my research took on a specific flavor.

Basically, I found I couldn’t talk about anything without talking about history, power, and ethics. In my mind, to adequately understand any phenomenon we need to think about how it developed over time (history), how it is implicated in relations of power (sociology, political economy, Critical/Cultural theory), and how it contributes to living a good life or not (ethics). Given my undergrad training, I even see history itself as inherently interdisciplinary. To do good history you need to have a fundamental understanding of politics, how social structures work, a grasp on the mechanisms of culture, etc. And what’s the point of talking about history if not to live a better life or cultivate wisdom?

So, for example, in my research on food journalism I have to look at how it developed from the women’s pages and evolved into “lifestyle” content (history-shout out to Kim Voss), how it can potentially serve hegemonic notions of consumer culture and industrialized food production (power), and how it might operate to improve the lives of community members entangled in various systems of power, culture, discourse, and resource distribution (ethics).

My research on the Black press certainly involves history, but I am also interested in how Black journalists and media makers negotiated structural limitations (power) and responded with different orientations towards the world and ways of doing (ethics). My work on AI in media examines how the news and other media industries developed their economic models over time (history-power), how AI is currently employed, and what implications these hold for our moral autonomy and democratic worldmaking (ethics). I also look at the fundamental misunderstandings of what AI is—with such misinformation perpetuated by industry interests and routine-following journalists—and correcting these misperceptions to bring focus back to where we might assert our humanity (power-ethics). So, I’d probably consider my work on AI transdisciplinary but really, I can’t even imagine what my research would look like without a baseline of being interdisciplinary.

What makes you most excited about teaching or research?

As far as teaching, there is just something about talking with students and not knowing what’s going to come up or what kind of insights you’ll witness in real time. I teach courses on ethics, law, sociology, theory, and even my history course is more Socratic and conversational than a traditional lecture. It’s these conversations that get me most excited about teaching and the notion that I’m not just conveying information, I’m helping people develop their own sense of (socially grounded) self and moral character.

I get the most satisfaction when students tell me how a course made them rethink their relationship to the world and what they have the ability to do. My program, for example, has a lot of sports media majors (I try to convince them to think of themselves as sports journalists). One of these students recently told me that in his sports classes, he can tell which students have and haven’t taken my ethics course yet. Those who had, he argued, were more informed, attentive, critical, and caring, asking more piercing questions and pushing class conversations in more fruitful directions (well, he said this in so many words). Helping students to ask meaningful questions and having the confidence to assert their informed views and morally preferable ways of doing? Yes please!

Talking with students also helps keep me grounded. If I could have my way (and I’m glad I can’t), I would probably read books and just think abstract thoughts all day.

As far as research, I’m under no illusions that what I’m doing will radically alter the world. But at the very least, it does radically change who I am. Undertaking a new research project means I will learn something new, see things differently, and appreciate life all the more. Ideally, I can use this in my teaching, my service, my daily life as a community member, partner, and friend, to help improve the world in whatever small way I can. I also hold out hope that someone who reads my work (should I be so lucky!), will have their perspective changed, even in the slightest way, that helps bend the moral arc of the universe more towards justice, care, and those things necessary for our collective flourishing. We humans have so much potential for genuine happiness and wisdom, and research is my own humble means of helping to cultivate that potential.

As someone who co-led a study abroad course, what advice or lessons would you have for other faculty in that position?

First, if you have the opportunity, do it! I’ve done it three times now and each time is a lifelong memory. A related bit of advice is to be honest with students about the experience and not romanticize it. Yes, it’s potentially fun and exciting. But studying abroad is also about making yourself uncomfortable in a way that encourages greater understanding and growth. It’s not a vacation, it’s a learning experience, and there will be times when students (and you!) are confused, frustrated, and maybe even homesick. This is all part of it. Some of those challenging times can even make for some of the strongest memories.

Second, I’d recommend an assignment that helps ground students. My own trip is built around art, design, and culture, so the first assignment is something called “Design Connections” where each student picks out some element (like doors, statues, street art/graffiti, archways, fountains, etc.) and has to document different iterations as we tour around. Being in a foreign country can be overwhelming, so giving something students to focus on can be quite helpful. Students also talk to each other about their chosen element, so they’ll even collaborate and point things out to each other. The assignment then requires students to articulate the differences and similarities between how these elements manifest and are used compared to back home.

Another useful assignment plays to the strengths of media students where, as a class, we create a culture/lifestyle magazine of our host culture. Students pitch their own stories, take their own photos, do research, identify sources, and really talk things out to articulate the cultural nuances they have observed. While each student has their own story, they are also encouraged to help each other by bouncing ideas of one another and sharing photos. Students thus have a sense of ownership over a specific cultural aspect while also engaging in conversations that help them reflect on the experiences they are having.

So in a nutshell, recognizing the challenges of studying abroad while also having very intentional assignments is key.

What hobbies or activities do you enjoy outside of academia?

I love to eat, so I also love to cook! Living so often in my head as we all do, it’s nice to do something physical and have a delicious outcome at the end of it. On a related note, I also like to swim, bicycle, hike, and paddleboard (and West Virginia is certainly great for such activities). Above all, I love spending time with my wife, going on long walks or dwelling over meals as we talk about life, wonder at the silliness of us humans, or contemplate the meaning of it all!