Jovonna Jones

Jovonna Jones is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Boston College, with a joint appointment in African & African Diaspora Studies. She is affiliated with the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. Her work focuses on 20th and 21st century African American cultural production, visual studies, photography, spatial analysis, and Black feminist criticism. Jones holds a B.A. from Emory University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Her research explores intersections of Black visual culture, urban history, and feminist spatial practices. Current projects include The Last Thanksgiving at West Rutland Square (reconstructing Black life in Boston’s South End) and a study of Black women’s rooming houses as sites of feminist world-building. Her writings appear in Aperture, Souls, Callaloo, Southern Cultures, and MCA Chicago.

• Research Interests: Black visual culture, spatial justice, architectural history, feminist theory, urban displacement, and material culture preservation.

Professor Jones has been awarded fellowships from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, and Dartmouth College’s Provost's Fellows Program. These honors reflect her contributions to interdisciplinary scholarship in race, gender, and visual studies.

Her publications analyze topics such as Black feminist spatial vision, apartheid protest through art, and the sociopolitical dimensions of artistic production. Jones’ work bridges historical and contemporary perspectives to memorialize marginalized narratives.