Norman W. Jones

Norman W. Jones is a Professor in the Department of English at The Ohio State University, where he also serves as Dean and Director of the OSU Mansfield Campus and Vice Provost and Dean for Undergraduate Education. His academic and administrative roles span multiple campuses, including Columbus and Mansfield.

• PhD in English, University of California, Los Angeles (2002)
• MA in English, University of California, Los Angeles (1998)
• BA in Humanities, Yale University (1994)

Jones specializes in cross-disciplinary research at the intersection of Twentieth-century British and American literature, Bible and literature, and Gender and sexuality studies. His work interrogates the complex relationships between sacred texts and marginalized identities in modern literature, with a particular focus on queer narratives and postsecular frameworks. He has pioneered pedagogical approaches to teaching U.S. LGBTQ+ history through fiction, emphasizing narrative strategies for addressing gaps in historical evidence.

His publications explore how 20th- and 21st-century American authors reinterpret biblical themes to challenge institutional norms, particularly in representations of sexuality and marginalized subjectivities. Key works include analyses of William Faulkner's novels and Monique Truong's The Book of Salt, where he develops concepts like 'eucharistically queer' reading.