Dr. Jessica James
By Kenneth Young (Whetstone Staff Writer)
KY: How long have you been teaching here at Wesley College?
JJ: This is my ninth year, so eight full years and I’m going into my ninth.
KY: What are you currently teaching?
JJ: Three years ago, I moved into the Sociology and Political Science Department and I began teaching Introduction to Sociology, Contemporary Social Problems, and Popular Culture. Also, three years ago, I created a program minor in Africana Studies. So I teach various courses for the minor now and so I teach Introduction to Africana Studies, African Americans in Film, Africa and Hollywood, Africans in the making of the Atlantic world, and I teach a Sociology course that’s called Race and Ethnicity, and last year, I began teaching First year seminar called Hungry for Change: Food Culture in America. This year, I started teaching for the Criminal Justice minor and the Law and Justice Major. I’m teaching a new course called Criminology.
KY: What rewards do you personally get from teaching?
JJ: I learn something new each and every day and I feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction when I impart knowledge to young people and I see them understand the world in a different way, whether it’s race, class, gender and I see their eyes open during class or sometimes a student will come to me after class and say “Wow, I really think about this in a different way now.”
KY: Where did you go to school? What was your major?
JJ: For undergraduate, I went to Tulane University in New Orleans. I majored in History, and I minored in African and Diaspora studies. I graduated with Honors. For my Masters and Ph.D. I went to Temple University in Philadelphia and I majored in African American studies, with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Science.
KY: What drew you to this field?
JJ: I had a desire to learn the truth. Â I was a freshman or a sophomore at Tulane and I took a course called African Rebellions. It was the first time I ever learned history from the perspective of Africans.
KY: What was your worst or most interesting job as a student?
JJ: The most interesting job, for me, was working for Tulane Law School, in the career services center. So my job was to call recent graduates and ask them what they were doing. So these were kids that went to really great schools, as undergrads, and they’d come to Tulane Law School.
KY: Where were you born and raised?
JJ: I was born in West Monroe, La. I was raised across the river in Monroe.â€
KY: Favorite music genre?
JJ: Rock and Roll, but also Alternative. Older R&B is a really close second.
KY: Favorite film(s)?
JJ: Oh wow. Gone With the Wind, Airplane, and Reservoir Dogs.
KY: Favorite Shows?
JJ: The Walking Dead, Six Feet Under, Lost, Daily Show, Colbert Report, Law and Order (the original series), The Departed, Homeland, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men.
KY: Favorite book?
JJ:Â The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, Gone with the Wind, Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
KY: Favorite pastimes and hobbies?
JJ: Running, biking, swimming, playing with my dog, Gumbo, disk golf, book club, sewing and yoga.
KY: What are you most passionate about in life?
JJ: Probably racial and social inequality. That encompasses pretty much with what I do with service and helping people who are low income.
