CURRICULUM VITAE
Sonya L. Jones, Ph.D.
Academic Address:
The Honors Program
The University of Kentucky
1153 Patterson Office Tower
Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0027
859-257-3111
Sonya.Jones@uky.edu
Business Address:
The Jones Educational Foundation, Inc.
Slate Branch Retreat House & Farm
P.O. Box 289
Somerset, Kentucky 42502
606-678-0880
Cellular: 606-875-2967
www.jonesfoundation.net
drjones@jonesfoundation.net
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
President & Chief Executive Officer, The Jones Educational Foundation, Inc., 255 Bridge Hollow
Road, Somerset (Slate Branch), Kentucky 42503 (Mailing Address: P.O. Box 289, Somerset,
Kentucky 42502), 2005-present. The Reid S., Elva S. and Dr. Sonya L. Jones Educational
Foundation, Inc. was established to assist people primarily in south central and eastern Kentucky
with educational and spiritual development and goals. The Foundation's first scholarships and
prizes were awarded in 2006 and have expanded to include awards funded by local professionals in
the Somerset area. The Jones Foundation is scheduled to present its first endowed award in
education at Union College, April 15, 2010. Plans call for endowment of The Elva S. Jones
Scholarship in Teaching in September 2010, The Reid S. Jones Scholarship in Business in 2011,
and The Dr. Sonya L. Jones Scholarship in the Humanities in the year following Dr. Jones's death.
Dr. Jones was inducted into the Union College Legacy Society in October 2009, and contributions
are to be made to the Jones Scholarships into perpetuity. Further information in available at
www.jonesfoundation.net
Spiritual Director and Managing Partner, Slate Branch Retreat House & Farm, 255 Bridge Hollow
Road, Somerset (Slate Branch), Kentucky 42503, 2005-present. Within its first year and one-half
of operation, Slate Branch Retreat House hosted a nationally known peace activist as well as
Kentucky's poet laureate. Its products, the proceeds of which were designated to help maintain
the retreat house, were stocked in health food stores in southern Kentucky, Lexington, and
Louisville. Whole Foods Market, an international leader in whole and organic foods, requested
samples of Slate Branch products. A new program with eight scholarships to be awarded to
graduating seniors from the Somerset area who will participate in one week of workshops
designed to help build confidence is scheduled for June 2010.
Trustee, The Elva S. Jones Revocable Trust and The Dr. Sonya L. Jones Revocable Trust, P.O.
Box 289, Somerset, Kentucky 42502, 2005-present. Currently serve as Managing Trustee in
charge of financial operations. In October 2009, The Elva S. Jones Revocable Trust became The
Elva S. Jones Irrevocable Trust.
Chair, The Honors Program Development Committee, The University of Kentucky, 2005.
Appointed by then Honors Program Director Dr. Suketu Bhavsar to chair the Development
Committee. Assessed the Honors Program's link to The University of Kentucky Development
Office as well as the Honors Program's buget and endowments. Recommended that the
Committee be re-configured for purposes of raising money to feed into the Director's
Discretionary Fund.
Vice-President, Reid S. Jones & Company, November 2000-August 2005. Assisted with the
management of rental properties and assets owned by this family holding company which was
folded into The Elva S. Jones Revocable Trust and The Dr. Sonya L. Jones Revocable Trust as of
August 2005. Currently serve as Managing Trustee.
Publisher & Editor, Coffee Talk Quarterly: "A journal of art, culture, ideas, and interesting
people," 304 W. Mt. Vernon Street, Somerset, Kentucky 42501, August 2004-December 2005.
Founded as an outgrowth of "Literary Evenings with Dr. J & Company at Cafe Latte" to fill a gap
in arts and literary coverage in southern Kentucky and quickly spread from the Somerset area
across the Commonwealth. Distributed in the Lexington area at Black Swan Books, Joseph Beth
Booksellers, and The University of Kentucky Bookstore. Feasibility of continuing CTQ as a for
profit publication, applying for not for profit status, or discontinuing publication was considered
carefully before a decision was made to cease publication in light of academic affiliation with The
University of Kentucky.
Proprietor, "Something Special" Vintage Boutique & Fine Arts Gallery, 304 W. Mt. Vernon
Street, Somerset, Kentucky 42501, October 2003-May 2005. Featured first edition books, fine art
prints, and art by local artists in addition to vintage clothing. This profitable boutique also served
as a gathering place for artists and intellectuals in the Somerset area.
Co-chair, Women and Religion, The Southeast Commission on the Study of Religion (SECSOR),
2003-2004. Advised SECSOR's Executive Committee on program issues and invited
internationally known authors Valerie Boyd and Dr. Sarah Gordon to participate on a
SECSOR-funded panel featuring the work of Zora Neale Hurston and Flannery O'Connor.
Trustee, The Master Musicians Festival, Somerset, Kentucky 2001-2004. Raised money for the
festival, wrote public relations copy pro bono for local publications, and offered gratis service as
point person for media relations.
Public Relations Task Force, The SYDA Foundation, South Fallsburg, New York, 1997-1999.
Recommended that The SYDA Foundation lessen control over its promotions to appeal to a wider
market, a proposal adopted unanimously by the Task Force. Wrote scripts pro bono for the
SYDA Video Production Department, 1997-1998. Also served in the 1990s as advisor to The
Learning Center, a school operated by SYDA, and consultant in media relations to The PRASAD
Project, a SYDA-affiliated organization that does humanitarian work in India and upstate New
York.
Managing Partner, Brito & Lair, New York, New York, 1995-2000. Co-founded publishing
partnership with a Scholastic Press editor who helped to launch the Harry Potter project. Brito &
Lair was a fine arts company that turned out "beautiful books" (Alan Michael Parker, Director of
Creative Writing, Davidson College). Responsible for editorial and financial operations.
Chair, English Departmet Search Committee, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, Fall
1999. Interviewed at Modern Language Association meetings, December 1999, Palmer House,
Chicago; hired Columbia Ph.D. who replaced the founding advisor The Allegheny Review. Also
chaired and served on Allegheny Search Committees across the divisions from 1983-1999 to
attract candidates from the ivy league and top public universities.
Advisor, The Campus, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1982-2000. Hired primarily
as journalist and interdisciplnary scholar to build the print journalism program and improve the
college's student newspaper. In pre-tenure years, the newspaper expanded from one signature, or
four pages, to twelve signatures, or 48 pages, at its thickest. It focused on investigative news; for
instance, a story assigned by the advisor lead to Allegheny's investigation as to whether or not the
college should divest from companies doing business in South Africa. The tone for the
newspaper was set by a group of student journalists who were on board when the advisor arrived at
Allegheny from Atlanta in September 1982. Their staff box read: "If you want to be taken
seriously, do serious work." Stories from journalism classes were submitted automatically each
week to the newspaper for publication consideration. The advisor significantly increased
enrollment figures in basic news writing, advanced news writing, feature writing, and upper
division theoretical classes (Representations of the Journalist in Film, for example, and Journalism
and Religion) as well as students who wished to undertake senior comprehensive projects in print
journalism. The advisor was invited by Columbia University to evaluate student publications
nationally; she also fielded complaints and suggestions from the Allegheny community as well as
the residents of "Bentley Hall," the administration building built in the late 1700s by Allegheny's
first president, Timothy Alden, whose library was praised by then U.S. President Thomas
Jefferson.
Founding Advisor, The Allegheny Review, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania,
1982-2000. Suggested the idea of a national publication devoted exclusively to publication of
undergraduate student work to two student editors, and the advisor-editor threesome paid a visit to
the Dean who funded the project from its inception. Two decades following its intiial publication,
The Little Review called The AR "better than most professional reviews." The journal is now in its
twenty-eighth year of uninterrupted publication.
Co-Director, "History and Memory" Conference (with Richard Stewart, Allegheny College
Director of Alumni Affairs), Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1997. Raised funds to
stage this conference on gender, did promotion nationwide, and selected papers as well as panelists
and keynote speaker. "History and Memory" rasied more money than it spent. It prompted the
Allegheny Director of Women's Studies to donate the remainder of her budget to pay for
Allegheny faculty who wished to attend. "History and Memory" featured 43 distinguished
presenters from colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
Founding Advisor, The Meditation and Mindfulness House, Allegheny College, Meadville,
Pennsylvania, 1996-1997. With four college women and support from the Dean of Students
office, established a special interest house to promote living mindfully. The "M&M House" held
weekly meditation sessions, and the four founders attempted to live in the space with respect for
each other and the college community.
Chair, Gender Studies Minor, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1996-1997. Eleven
core faculty across the divisions taught in the minor which passed unanimously on the faculty
floor. The chair also facilitated two summer seminars funded by Allegheny College for faculty
teaching in the minor.
Consultant, The PRASAD Project, Hurleyville, New York, 1993-1994. Wrote and edited
promotional copy for PRASAD's newsletter and consulted on the presentation of material
including the Project's annual report. PRASAD offers philanthropic services in India as well as
upstate New York.
Chair, Allegheny College-Clark University Faculty-Student Exchange, 1992-1994. Allegheny
faculty and students participated in week-long residence at Clark University, Atlanta, April 1993.
Facilitated student program attended by Clark University Dean Alexa Henderson in the Atlanta
home of Allegheny Trustee Isabell Moss.
Faculty Council, Allegheny College, 1992-1995. Chair, 1993-1994. Represented Council and
the Allegheny faculty at on-campus meetings of the Board of Trustees; represented Council at
executive sessions of the Board of Trustees in Pittsburgh; represented Council at monthly
meetings of the Allegheny faculty; facilitated Council's discussions of recommendations for
staffing allotments and hiring policies; guided Council to overhaul the college's faculty committee
structure for greater efficiency. Served on the Council that recommended the Dean be chosen
from the Allegheny faculty and nominated the professor who was chosen by the President as the
first Dean from Allegheny's faculty.
Chair, The Discriminatory Harassment Committee, 1992-1994. Invited by then President Daniel
J. Sullivan, who left Allegheny to become President of his alma mater, St. Lawrence University, to
chair the DHC which dealt primarily with racial harassment issues. Served as Sullivan's key
recommender in the St. Lawrence presidential search.
Board of Advisors, TKM Monastery, Boulder Creek, California, 1990-1991. Served at the
request of Professor Rina Sircar, Director of Buddhist Studies, The California Institute of Integral
Studies, San Francisco, California.
Chair, Allegheny College Faculty-Student-Trustee Committee on Divestment from Companies
Doing Business in South Africa, 1986-1990. Met regularly to consult with the President and
Trustees about the advisability of Allegheny's divestment from companies doing business in South
Africa. Met with students and faculty to assess the mood on campus. The College divested its
holdings in South Africa in 1990.
Chair, Allegheny College Committee on Racial Issues, 1987-1989. Tapped by then President
Daniel J. Sullivan to chair CORIS which advised the administration on racial issues pertinent to
faculty, staff, and student well-being and helped to select speakers who were brought onto the
Allegheny campus.
Director, Humanities Core Course, Allegheny College, 1984-1988. Selected by the outgoing
director of the HCC to administer this course of study which involved five faculty and
approximately seventy-five students in a self-selecting Honors program funded initially by the
National Endowment for the Humanities and the Allegheny Dean's office. Syllabus featured
Dante's Divine Comedy framed within an historical context and in relation to contemporary works
of art, literature, and philosophy. The Humanities Core Course was so successful that it lead the
college to require a version of it for the entire incoming class.
Coordinator, Allegheny Reading Series, 1984-1989. Brought to the Allegheny campus such
writers as Galway Kinnell, Denise Levertov, and Shawn Wong. Prior to their readings, writers
often met with editors of The Allegheny Review.
Board of Directors, Women's Services, Inc., Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1983-1985. Women's
Services offers support to local women and operates a house for victims of domestic violence in
Crawford County, Pennsylvania.
Managing Editor, The DeKalb New Era, Decatur, Georgia (Emory University area), 1977-1978.
Suburban Atlanta newspaper, approximately 10,000 circulation. Co-supervised production and
wrote op/ed columns, arts/entertainment copy. Profiles included material from interviews with
and readings/lectures by John Ashbery, Virginia Spenser Carr, David Madden, and Carolyn
Rogers. Reviewed premier of a little known Tennessee Williams play at Atlanta's High Museum
of Art; review included impressions of Williams who was present at the premier, one of his last
public appearances.
Managing Editor, The Georgia Commercial Post, Atlanta, Georgia 1976. Early attempt to launch
a business and financial newspaper in metropolitan Atlanta. Worked with publisher to conceive
newspaper policy and design; wrote editorials, news, feature copy; supervised free-lance reporters
and production. Highlights included proposing that the New York Stock Exchange, then
experiencing some financial difficulties, move to the Fox Theater, a grand art decor building under
threat of demolition in Atlanta. Also interviewed Irving Vogel, then President of the Southern
Company, parent of Georgia Power and Alabama Power, and wrote a story featuring his repeated
attempts to escape from Nazi prison campus during World War II when he served as a fighter pilot.
Editor, Associate Editor, NAWCAS GUILD NEWS, Atlanta, Georgia, 1971-1975. Supervised
editorial copy and did graphic design for this international trade association publication.
Supervised 55-member string of correspondents who submitted coverage of women's and
children's apparel trade shows.
Editor, The Thoroughbred, The University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, 1970-71. An
experimental attempt to combine the yearbook with the literary magazine into a dynamic
photo-journalistic magazine. Responsible for publication content as well as managing the staff
and budget. Also sat on the Student-Faculty Board of Publications and attended the Collegiate
Publishing Network conference in Santa Monica, California with the editor of the University of
Louisville's student newspaper and the Dean who oversaw student publications, 1971.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Adjunct Faculty, The Honors Program, The University of Kentucky, 2004-present. Taught all
four colloquia in the Western Cultural Heritage sequence for the academic year, 2004-2005: The
Ancient World, The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Early Modernity, The Contemporary
World. Headed the Honors faculty numerically on student evaluations first year teaching in the
Honors Program (see Professor David Durant's letter) and have continued to merit 3.7 and above
on student evaluations. Taught two of the four Honors colloquia in the academic year 2005-2006
and was invited by then Director Suketu Bhavar to teach the upper division Honors seminar 301 in
Comparative World Religions, Spring 2006 (student evaluations averaged 3.8 plus on a scale of
4.0). In 2006-2007 joined the World Food Issues track in the Honors Program (scored a 4.0 in a
WFI seminar) while continuing to teach The Contemporary World. Have offered upper division
seminars in "The Art of Biography" as well as "The Question of Fear in Postmodern Culture and
Philosophy." Scheduled to teach Honors 301 in Spring 2011 as an interdisciplinary course
entitled, "India Ascending" and to lead a student group to India in the winter intercession of
2011-2012.
Adjunct Faculty, The School of Journalism and Telecommunications, The University of
Kentucky, Fall 2006-present. Teach Writing for the Mass Media (as needed and if available).
Professor in World Literature and Religion, Semester at Sea, Institute for Shipboard Education,
University of Pittsburgh, Pitsburgh, Pennsylvania, Spring Voyage, January-April 2000. Taught
"World Short Stories," "Indian Writers in English," Reflections of Eastern Spirituality in Poetry."
Lead student field trips in India and Japan (see letter from Dr. John Tymitz, Executive Director of
Semester at Sea).
Professor of English, Journalism, and Interdisciplinary Studies, Allegheny College, Meadville,
Pennsylvania, 1997-2000. Focused primarily on world literature and religion. On sabbatical,
1997-1998, traveling extensively in India. Early retirement, Fall 2000, to return to hometown of
Somerset, Kentucky.
Associate Professor of English, Journalism, and Interdisciplinary Studies, Allegheny College,
Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1989-1997. Focused on developing multi-cultural courses and
seminars as well as extra-curricular programs in the college at large. Co-wrote and taught the
introduction to Alternative Traditions in American Literature as well as the Advanced Survey of
Alternative Traditions in American Literature. Helped to establish the Asian Studies Minor and
facilitated a summer seminar in Asian and Asian-American Literature for faculty members
spanning disciplines ranging from English and dance to biology and physics.
Visiting Research Associate, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, and The California Institute of
Integral Studies, San Francisco, California, 1989-1990. In residence for intervals at both
institutions during sabbatical from Allegheny, alternating with research travel to sacred sites in
Thailand and India.
Assistant Professor of English, Journalism and Interdisciplinary Studies, Allegheny College,
Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1982-1989. Hired as a journalist and interdisciplinary scholar to build
the journalism program; taught on all sides of the English Department curriculum during the years
leading up to tenure in 1989. In addition to teaching seven classes per year initially, duties
included advising all facets of The Campus, Allegheny's student newspaper--editorial policy, news
gathering and writing, the paper's relations with the college community and administration.
Founded The Allegheny Review, a national outlet for undergraduate poetry and fiction. The AR
consistently merited "Superior" evaluations when entered into undergraduate magazine
competition sponsored by Columbia University Scholastic Press Association.
Director, Humanities Core Course, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1984-1988 (see
Administrative Experience). The program was funded initially by the National Endowment for
the Humanities. Funding was also provided by the office of then Allegheny Dean Andrew T.
Ford (later President of Wabash College) which permitted experiential learning excursions to such
cultural and historical sites as the National Gallery of Art, the Vietnam War Memorial, and
architect Frank Lloyd Wright's home, "Falling Water." The Director was responsible for recruiting
faculty from across the disciplines which comprise the Humanities, negotiating with departmental
chairpersons and the Dean for release time for faculty, guiding weekly meetings on significant
topics at hand, and arranging for in-house lectures by Core faculty as well as invited guests such as
Shawn Wong, Professor of Asian-American Studies at the University of Seattle.
Teaching Assistant, The English Department and The Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, 1980-1982. Taught expository writing in the English
department and was selected from teaching assistants to team teach the first-year liberal arts
seminar entitled, "Youth, Identity, and the Self" with Professor William Fox, later Emory's Vice
President for External Affairs. Later repeated this interdisciplinary seminar with a focus on
epistemology and ontology at Allegheny College. Served as assistant to Sally Fitzgerald, editor
of Flannery O'Connor's letters.
Teaching Assistant, The English Department, The University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky,
1969-1970. Editor, The Thoroughbred magazine, 1970-1971.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Courses: Advanced Essay Writing, Advanced Journalism, Advertising Copywriting, Alternative
Traditions in American Literature (Introductory and Advanced Survey of African-American,
Asian-American, Latin American, and Native American Literatures), Asian-/American Literature,
Comparative World Religions, Expository Writing, Feature Writing, Fiction Writing, Feminist
Theory, Feminist Analyses of Literature, Humanities Core Course (four consecutive years, also
served as Director of this three-term trajectory which positioned Dante's Divine Comedy at the
center keyed to contemporary works of art, literature, music, religion and philosophy), Gender
Relations in Literature, History and Structure of the English Language, Introduction to Literature,
Introduction to Philosophy, Journalism and Religion, Modern Poetry, News Writing, Poetry
Writing, Postcolonial Indian Writers in English, Reflections of Eastern Spirituality in Poetry,
Religion and Literature, Southern American Literature, The Short Story (primarily American at
Allegheny; keyed to international ports of call for Semester at Sea), Travel Writing (featured
writings from travel in India), the Western Cultural Heritage colloquia (from ancient Greece in
comparison with ancient India to the postmodern world), Women in Literature, World Religions,
and Writing for the Mass Media.
Seminars: Asian-American Literature (junior-senior level for undergraduates; summer workshop
for faculty); Confessional Generation of American Poets; Constructions of the Journalist in Film;
Constructions of Sexuality in Literature; Comparative World Religions; East-West Intersections
in Literature; Identity and the Self; How to Be Happy in the Late 20th Century; Flannery O'Connor
(with Sally Fitzgerald while serving as her assistant at Emory); Great Women Protagonists in
World Literature, The Iliad and The Bhagavad Gita; The Odyssey and The Bhagavad Gita; James
Joyce; Journalism and Religion/Spirituality; Postcolonial India Writers in English;
Psychoanalysis and Film Narrative; Psychoanalysis and Art Criticism; The Art of Biography; The
Faces of God: the Meaning of Religious Plurality in Postmodern Times; The Question of Fear in
Postmodern Culture and Philosophy.
Seminars Outside Academic Settings: For the OSHER Institute at the University of Kentucky
(which caters to students over 50), have offered "Dealing with Fear in Difficult Times" at the
Carnegie Community Arts Center in Somerset; in Spring 2010 am scheduled to teach "Attaining
Heaven or a State of Enlightenment: An Exploration of Ultimate Happiness in the World's
Religions" at Slate Branch Retreat House in Somerset and the Shambhala Buddhist Meditation
Center in Lexington. Have conducted book discussions on Comparative World Religions in
Somerset at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church, and Slate Branch Retreat
House.
Senior Theses Directed--Individual Authors: Dante Alighieri, Margaret Atwood, Stephen Crane,
Fyodor Dostoevsky. T.S. Eliot, Larence Ferlinghetti, Sigmund Freud, Allen Ginsberg, Elizabeth
Hardwick, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Jack Kerouac, Maxine Hong Kingston, Stanley Kunitz,
Doris Lessing, Denise Levertov, Toni Morrison, Bharati Mukherjee, Flannery O'Connor, Sylvia
Plath, Adrienne Rich, Arundhati Roy, Anne Sexton, Alice Walker, Eudora Welty, William Carlos
Williams, and Virginia Woolf. Topical Subjects: Advertising Analysis, The "Beat" Poets,
Feminist Theory, Feminist Analysis of Literary Texts, Feature Writing, Gender Relations in
Literature, Literature in Political Contexts, Philosophy and Literature, Religion and Literature,
Spiritual Dimensions of Literature, Sports Writing, Theoretical Analyses of Journalism and
Culture, Vietnam War Literature. Exemplary Theses: Directed senior theses which both won
the Mullfinger Prize for the best senior project in the Department of English at Allegheny College
and enhanced the successful honors candidacy of graduating seniors. One senior "comp"--all
must be at least 50 pages according to English Department guidelines--dealt with deconstructionist
philosopher Jacques Derrida in relation to Buddhist thought and theory and was dubbed by
colleagues as "one of the most mature theses" ever presented to the Allegheny faculty. Likewise,
another senior project in sports writing was excellent; sections ran in Allegheny magazine,
Allegheny's alumni publication. Poetry "comps" written by Robert Ostrom and Maria Elia were
splendid in terms of craft and philosophical sophistication; Ostrom and Elia also completed
semester-long independent studies in Dante's Divine Comedy prior to continuing their work in the
M.F.A. program at Columbia University.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
"Jones Foundation Trustees meet at Slate Branch Retreat, set priorities" with sidebar story, "Elva
Jones Memorial Fund established from donations." The Somerset Commonwealth Journal,
December 27, 2009. Other press releases detailing activities of The Jones Educational
Foundation, Inc. and Slate Branch Retreat House have appeared regularly in The Commonwealth
Journal, 2005-present.
"Huston Smith--'Dean of Comparative Religions'--Keynotes AAP National Conference in
Lexington." The Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis Newsletter, Summer 2006.
"The 5 Steps to Healthy Living." Southern Kentucky Health & Fitness magazine, Newspaper
Holdings, Inc., July-November 2007.
"The Place of Indian Religion on the Global Map of Religious Plurality." The International
Journal of Hindu Studies. Approved by new editor for submission.
"Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability: Fighting the Indian Caste System." The International
Journal of Hindu Studies. Pending shift in editors.
"The Splendor of Recognition." The International Journal of Hindu Studies, in press. An essay
review of The Splendor of Recognition by Swami Shantananda with Peggy Bendet. This essay
is an analysis of Kshemaraja's The Pratyabhijnahrdayam, an 11th century Shaivite scripture.
Analysis includes a discussion of related texts which explore Kashmir Shaivite philosophy in India
and in the United States.
"Have a peaceful holiday season." Coffee Talk Quartery, Holiday 2004. Op/ed piece explores
Sonya Jones's friendship with the America poet Denise Levertov whom Dr. Jones first
encountered as a student at Union College in 1968. CTQ ran a publisher's point of view by Dr.
Jones is each of its issues. One was entitled, "Farewell, Susan Sontag."
"Dr. J's Notes." The Somerset-Pulaski News Journal, Somerset, Kentucky, 2002-2003. A
weekly column which employed op/ed and new journalistic techniques to explore cultural,
sociological and spiritual issues in the Cumberland Valley region of Kentucky. Also wrote
reviews of books by Sallie Bingham, James Baker Hall, Nan Mooney, and Lee Smith for The
Lexington Herald Leader during this time frame. Prior to "Dr. J's Notes," wrote feature stories for
The Somerset-Pulaski News Journal and The Somerset Commonwealth Journal. Examples
included feature stories on the murder of Sam Catron, Pulaski County sheriff, as well as Mary
Lasley, the first African-American women to be employed at the Pulaski County Court House.
A Sea of Stories. Binghamton, New York: Harrington Park Press, 2000. An edited collection
of essays which examine the power of narrative to construct cultural attitudes, behaviors, and
identities.
"Race and Class Issues as Ideological Underpinnings." The International Journal of Hindu
Studies, 1999. This commentary critiques the claim that low caste Hindus are fixated on the
body. By invitation of the book reviews editor.
"The Large Things of Arundhati Roy." The Literature of Indian Diaspora, A.L. McLeod, ed.,
New Delhi, India: Sterling Publishers Private Limited, 2000. Essay is based on a presentation
given at a conference in Mysore, India, Winter, 1998, with material integrated from an interview
with Arundhati Roy at her home in New Delhi, Winter 1998.
"Siddha Yoga at Work." Darshan magazine, South Fallsburg, New York, 1997-1998. Served as
editor, solicited work and launched series explolring the use of spiritual teachings and practices in
the workplace. "Siddha Yoga at Work" included interviews with Syd Field, a world class expert
in screenwriting, and Valerie Woods, a script writer for several Los Angeles-based television
shows. The series also included articles written by professors and writers who practice
meditation. Several poems by Sonya Jones were also published in Darshan magazine.
History and Memory. Binghamton, New York: The Haworth Press, 1998. An edited collection
of essays underscoring the value of history and memory to shape literary texts in cultural context.
Translated into Greek, 2005.
Small Claims, Large Encounters. New York: Brito & Lair, 1995. Edition of poetry explores the
nature of the relationship between an enlightened spiritual teacher and a disciple; some of these
poems are set in India and were written both during and following sabbatical travel on the Indian
subcontinent in 1990.
"Psychoanalysis and Cinema." Film Criticism, Spring 1990. Invited by editor Lloyd Michaels
to solicit, review, and edit a collection of essays bringing psychoanalytic theory to bear on the
interpretation of contemporary films. This special issue of the journal contains the first, in-depth
analysis published on Polish filmmaker Kristof Kieslowski's The Decalogue, a series of filmic
adaptations of the Biblical Ten Commandments. Attended the U.S. premier of The Decalogue at
the San Francisco International Film Festival and wrote a foreward casting light on the collection
of essays.
"Natural Disasters." Read by a production company in California, 1990. The plot of this
screenplay revolves around a family's struggles during a major earth quake in the San Francisco
Bay Area.
"John Berryman (1914-1972). Contemporary American Poets. New York: Gale Research
Company, 1986, Brucolli Clark, ed. Checklist of primary and secondary Berryman materials;
evaluative overview essay on Berryman scholarship. Requested by an editor who knew of
dissertation from Emory University's Grauate Institute of the Liberal Arts.
"The Hallucination Sonnets: Alcoholism in Berryman's Dream Songs." Berkeley, California:
Contemporary Drug Problems, Summer 1986. Substantial sections excerpted from Ph.D.
dissertation completed at Emory University's Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts under the
direction of Professors Arthur Evans, Robert Paul, and Tom Gilmore. Dissertation argues that the
disease of alcholism significantly effected the meaning and structure of Berryman's "expanded
sonnets" as well as his world view. Dissertation also deals with the so-called "intuitive leap" that
poets take in the creative process, enhanced by intake of the chemical alcohol, and attempts to
answer questions as to why Berryman "slipped," or drank again, after one year of sobriety, his last
collection of poems in press at the time of his death. Dissertation considers Berryman's religious
struggles in relation to his poetry and eventual suicide.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
"The Kalam Course." The University of Kentucky. April 5- 13, 2010. Scheduled to participate
on multi-disciplinary panel of UK faculty, April 13, addressing the vision for India of the former
President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, who will be in residence at UK during April. Honors
Program students from the World Food Issues seminar being conducted by Dr. Jones also are
scheduled to present their research findings to President Kalam in two sessions per research team.
"Living Mindfully in the Natural World." Talks on healthy living and intake of healthy foods for
the University of Kentucky Honors Program seminar held at Slate Branch Retreat House,
May-June 2009.
"The Pedagogy of Teaching Indian Studies in Liberal Arts and Research University Contexts."
The Asia Center, The University of Kentucky, Spring 2008.
"Meditation and Daily Life." The University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, Fall 2007. An
invited presentation for the Singletary Scholars.
"World Food Issues: So Much Depends Upon a Jar of Corn Relish." The Honors Program
Lecture Series, The University of Louisville, September 20, 2007.
"Doing the Tandava in the Bible Belt." The Center for the Advancement of Contemplative
Education, Naropa University, September 18, 2006. Postponed due to family matters.
"Aligning with the Cosmic Dance: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Purpose and Practice of
Meditation." The Honors Program Lecture Series, The University of Louisville, September 15,
2006.
"My Life as an Editor." Berea College, Berea, Kentucky, May 2005.
"How to Be Happy in the Early 21st Century." The University of Kentucky, September 2004.
Colloquia for Honors Program parents and students.
"Voodoo and Roman Catholicism in Two American Writers." The American Academy of
Religion Southeast, Atlanta, Georgia, Spring 2004. Facilitated and served as respondent for
presentations on Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd and Flannery O'Connor by Dr. Sarah
Gordon, internationally ackowledged experts on Hurston and O'Connor.
"From Radical Feminist to Radical Instigator of Spiritual Freedom: A Study of the Life of Sally
Kempton/Swami Durgananda." The American Academy of Religion Southeast, Atlanta, Spring
2003. This presentation explores the transofrmation of a New York journalist into a monk in the
Saraswati Order and back again into the world as founder of the Dharana Institute and columnist
for Yoga Journal.
"Press Representations of Gurumayi Chidvilasananda." The American Academy of Religion
Midwest, Chicago, Spring 2002. This presentation explores the feminist dimensions of a spiritual
teacher who is frequently constructed as "the movie star Guru."
"Gurumayi Chidvilasananda: A Revisionary Feminist Reading." The American Academy of
Religion Southeast, Atlanta, Georgia, Spring 2002.
"The Holy Spirit, The Holy Serpent, and The Holy Fire." First Unitedf Methodist Church,
Somerset, Kentucky, Winter 2002. An invited talk on the Holy Spirit as envisioned in different
religious traditions.
"Siddha Yoga in the West." Friends Community, Lexington, Kentucky, Fall 2001. An invited
talk in two sessions on the practice and theology of a neo-Hindu group in North American cultural
and religious contexts.
"Yoga's Response to September 11." Unitarian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, Fall 2001. An
invited presentation with other members of Lexington's inter-faith community following the
attacks of 9/11.
"The Large Things of Arundhati Roy Re-Visited." S.S. Universe Explorer Central Auditorium,
February 2000. One of several presentations given to a group of 500 plus during Semester At
Sea's Spring Voyage Around the World, 2000.
"Artistic Visions: A Study of Shekhur Kapur's Film, Bandit Queen." Colonies and Missions
Conference, The University of Tubingen, Germany, April 1999. A study of Kapur's film in relation
to a series of newspaper articles written by Arundhati Roy.
"South Africa Today." Presentations as member of a thirty-eight person team of North American
scholars and representatives of business, education, and government who met with governmental
and university leaders in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, the capital of South Africa.
"The Large Things of Arundhati Roy." The University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, Spring
1998. Arranged by Professor Devarakshanam Govinden, this talk takes some of its text from a
presentation given in Mysore, India.
"What's All the Fuss Over a First Novel? The Large Things of Arundhati Roy." The Institute of
Commonwealth and American Studies and English Language, Mysore, India, January 1998.
Invited by Professor Ani Gowda, Institute Director, to keynote a future conference. (See "The
Large Things of Arundhati Roy," A.L. McLeod, ed.)
"The Place of Artistic Vision in Postcolonial Times: In Defense of Arundhati Roy." South Asian
Studies Conference, The University of Wisconsin, Madison Wisconsin, October 1998.
"The History of Gender Concerns in Literature in Relation to Mainstream Literary Texts." York
University, Toronto, Canada, Winter 1997.
"The Use of Dharana in Teaching Poetry Writing." Associated Writing Programs (AWP)
Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, Spring 1996. Co-moderator of panel including Professor Diana
Hume George, Professor Kirk Nesset, Professor Alan Michael Parker, and Kimberley Snow, a
well-known Buddhist writer.
"How to Be Happy in the Late 20th Century." Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, Summer
1996, A guest presentation for the Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program.
"How to Be Happy in the Late 20th Century." Allegheny College, February 1996. A lecture for
parents of prospective students during "Scholars Weekend" by invitation of the Dean.
"The Role of Devotion in the Hindu-Buddhist Dialogue." TKM Monstery, Boulder Creek
California, May 1994.
"The Universal Prayer." Allegheny College Baccalaureates, 1993-1995. A chant delivered in
Sanskrit by invitatilon of the Allegheny College Chaplain.
"Some Key Ideas in American Literature." Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts, Spring
1993. By invitation of Dr. Jeanne Braham, former colleague in the English Department,
Allegheny College.
"Shawn Wong at Allegheny: Mainstreaming Multiculturalism." Asian-American Conference, San
Jose, California, May 1992. Presentation incorporated some of the material from Shawn Wong's
appearance as a guest of the Humanities Core Course at Allegheny College.
"Dear Arsen, We Live in a Confusing World." Alden Scholars Banquet, Allegheny College, Fall
1992. First woman faculty in the history of Allegheny College to deliver the Alden Scholars
Lecture to the institution's highest ranking students.
"Maxine Hong Kingston." Asian-American Studies Association, The University of California at
Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, May 1992. Invited to chair panel by Professor Shirley
Lim, the University of California at Santa Barbara.
"Honorary Doctoral Citation for Nancy Sutton honoris causa," respected Allegheny College
Trustee and Vice President of Gray Advertising, Allegheny College Graduation, May 1990.
After Sutton's death, a Gray Advertising vice president contacted Dr. Jones about setting up a
memorial internship in Sutton's honor at Allegheny. In consultation with Gray, Dr. Jones selected
subsequent interns who spent summers at Gray headquarters in New York City. Gray hired the
first intern Allegheny sent to its professional staff.
"Re-thinking the Curriculum." San Diego, California, June 1989. Attended the conference on
Interated Interdisciplinary Study for the Allegheny Trustee Task Force on Companies Doing
Business in South Africa and presented paper proposing effective ways to incorporate
multicultural studies into the traditional undergraduate curriculum.
"Peace and a Penchant for Things Divine." American Cultural Studies Association, New Orleans,
Louisiana, March 1988. Delivered paper on Denise Levertov's poetry.
"Why Allegheny Should Divest from Companies Doing Business in South Africa." The University
Club, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A talk invited by the Chair of Allegheny's Board of Trustees,
February 1988.
"Honorary Doctoral Citation for Denise Levertov honoris causa," celebrated American poet,
Allegheny College Graduation, June 1986. Hosted Levertov and persuaded her to grant an
interview to editors of The Allegheny Review. The interview appeared in The AR, 1986.
"A Strong Brown God: Paternal Alcoholism in Twan's Huckleberry Finn." American Cultural
Studies Association, Atlanta, Georiga, Spring 1986.
"Alcoholism and Creativity." The Chataqua Institute, Chataqua, New York, Summer 1984.
"What is New Thought?" The Unitarian Church, Meadville, Pennsylvania, Fall-Winter
1982-1983. A six-week study session resulting from a sermon entitled, "The Law of
Abundance."
"The Hallucination Sonnets: Alcoholism in Berryman's Dream Songs." New York: The Modern
Language Association, December 1982.
"Alcohol and Sexuality." Milledgeville, Georgia: The Georgia College Conference on Sexuality
Summer 1980. Published in "The Best Papers of the Conference" as selected by the Conference
Committee, Georgia Collge, 1981.
"The Communities of Flannery O'Connor." Atlanta, Georgia: Emory University, April 1980.
Initiated, raised funds, and directed symposium in cooperation with three women colleagues from
The Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts. Hosted guest lecturer, Sally Fitzgerald.
SELECTED PERFORMANCES, READINGS
"Literary Evenings with Dr. J & Co. at Cafe Latte," Somerset, Kentucky, December 10, 2004.
Solo reading from poems spanning four decades. Also organized series and hosted readings by
local writers. Year-long series was popular with Somerset residents and was given ample
coverage by the local newspaper.
Dr. John Parks' Poetry Group, Lexington, Kentucky, Winter 2002. Invited to co-facilitate the
group by Dr. Parks, a Harvard-trained M.D., head of the Kentucky Psychosynthesis Network.
Sahkya Loka Retreat House, Women Writers Group, Woodridge, New York, 1998-2000.
Charis Books, Atlanta, Georgia, Spring 1996. With Diana Hume George, Lucia Getsi, Sarah
Gordon, and Kimberley Snow.
Barnes & Noble, Erie, Pennsylvania, November 1995.
Barnes & Noble, Erie, Pennsylvania, November 1995. Writers Harvest Day Coordinator. With
Diana Hume George, Diane Goodman, Kirk Nesset, Alan Michael Parker and selected students.
Allegheny College, October 1995. For the Timothy Alden Council, group of loyal Allegheny
alumni, Homecoming Weekend. By invitation of the Dean.
Single Voice Reading Series, Allegheny College, September 1995.
The Wish-Fulfilling Tree Bookstore, Atlanta, Georgia, August 1995.
The Siddha Yoga Meditation Center of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, August 1995.
The Kentucky Governor's Honors Program, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, July 1995.
First United Methodist Church, Somerset, Kentucky, June 1995 and November 2000.
The Siddha Yoga Meditation Ashram, Oakland, California, June 1995.
Prajna Prints, Berkeley, California, June 1995.
"I Am Always My Body," Allegheny College Faculty-Alumni Dance Concert, The Allegheny
College Campus Center, Decenber 1994. A long, narrative poem choreographed with Professor
Janyce Hyatt, Director of Dance. Requested by Hyatt for repeat performance.
Selected Poems, Allegheny College, Women's Studies Conference, Spring 1994. With Diana
Hume George and Diane Goodman.
"Decoding Gender Roles." Allegheny College, Master of Ceremonies Talk, Alden Scholars
Banquet, Fall 1989. Intended to address playfully, and yet seriously, the gender code which
underpins the academic enterprise.
"Amanda Wingfield Revised." Allegheny College, Ford Memorial Chapel, Winter 1989. A
revisionist interpretation of Amanda Wingfield, the lead female role, in George Hample's
production of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menangerie."
INSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS
"Religious Plurality Along an 80-Mile Stretch of Interstate 75N in Kentucky," October 2005. A
proposal to affiliate the Honors Program at the University of Kentucky with the Pluralism Project
at Harvard University.
"What Ever Happeed to Concrete Activism?" The Campus, Allegheny College, November 1998.
Critique of refusal to engage with the large philosophical and political issues of the day within the
context of commentary on Achieving Our Country by Professor Richard Rorty of the University of
Virginia.
"A Statement of Community" for the Presidential Task Force on Racial Harassment, Allegheny
College, September 1993. Draft of opening section of the "Discriminatory Harassment Policy."
"The Strategic Planning Document," first draft with Daniel Sullivan, President, and Charles
Pollock, Director of Public Information, Allegheny College, May 1993. A plan for Allegheny's
subsequent five years.
"Why Allegheny Should and Should Not Divest from Com;panies Doing Business in South
Africa," September 1987. With Professor Glen Holland, Department of Religious Studies, and
Margaret Powers, Editor of The Campus, Allegheny's student newspaper.
NOMINATIONS
Gaines Center for the Humanities Chair and Director, The University of Kentucky, 2007. By two
Professor Emeriti. Withdrew the nomination.
Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Naropa University, 2005. By the
President of St. Lawrence University. Semi-finalist. Withdrew from the search during a
telephone conversation with Naropa President Thomas Coburn. Not in a position to re-locate to
Colorado.
Provost, The University of Kentucky, 2005. By two UK Fellows of the University of Kentucky.
Withdrew the nomination.
Senior Faculty, Yale University, 2003. By a Yale alumnus and Past President of the American
Shakespeare Association. Declined to allow the nomination to go forward. Not in a position to
move from Kentucky.
Director of the Humanities Division, Emerson College, 2001. By three nominators acting
independently. Short-listed. Not in a position to relocate to Boston.
Chair of the English Department, The University of Hong Kong, 2001. By the Executive Director
of Semester at Sea, The University of Pittsburgh. Withdrew the nomination. Not in a position to
relocate to Hong Kong.
President, Mills College, 1989. By an Allegheny College Trustee. Phoned by a Mills College
representative in the outgoing President's office.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Religion, Literature, and Culture. The Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts (ILA), Emory
University, Atlanta, Georgia, 1983. Major area; Literature, Religion, and Culture, subtitled,
"The Modern Sensibility: Reflections of Ontological Anguish in Western Literature." Studied with
Professsor Richard Ellmann, James Joyce's biographer, and with Professor Don Saliers in the
Candler School of Theology. Dissertation Title: "A Mile to Avalon: The Role of Alcoholism in
the Life and Work of John Berryman," Professor Arthur Evans, Director. Examination
Committee: Professors Arthur Evans, Robert Detweiler, Robert Paul, and Thomas Gilmore.
Substantial sections published.
Summer Study, The Center for Studies in Alcohol, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New
Jersey, 1980. Course Work: "Medical Implications of Alcoholism" and "Women and Alcohol."
Invited to present paper on Anne Sexton's alcoholism in relation to her poetry.
M.A., Modern Literature and Linguistics, The University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
1971. Course work with Professors Richard Batista, Leon Driskell, Edward Hageman, Richard
Kane, David Maurer, Mary Ellen Rickey, and Jerry Starling. Thesis Title: "The Sirens: A Poem,"
Professors Richard Kane and David Maurer, Directors. Thesis explored "The Sirens" chapter of
James Joyce's Ulysses.
B.A., cum laude, Union College, Barbourville, Kentucky, 1969. Major in English; minors in
drama, French, and psychology. Served on the Faculty-Student Committee in the Department of
English. Wrote an opinion/editorial column for The Orange and Black, Union's student
newspaper, and was invited to write the preface for the 1969 yearbook. First scholarly
publication, "The Father-Son Archetype in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,"
included in the English Department's "Best Selected Essays for 1969." Poetry written with Dr.
Frank Merchant, Chair of the English Department, called "the best undergraduate attempt" he had
ever witnessed (thus, a distinct pleasure to launch and sponsor The Dr. Frank Merchant
Scholarship at Union College, endowed 2010).