Dr. T. Shacon Jones II
Assistant Professor of Performing Arts for Social Justice/Dance
timothj@siue.edu
(618) 650-2773
Dr. T. Shacon Jones II is an Assistant Professor of Performing Arts for Social Justice/Dance in the Department of Theater and Dance at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. An artist-scholar-activist, archivist, and ethnographer, he conducts research at the nexus of Critical Black Male Studies, movement and performance, creative and experimental historiography, and community-based anti-oppressive praxis.
A first-generation college graduate and former foster youth, Dr. Jones earned a Ph.D. in Performance Studies with specializations in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, along with an M.A. in Education from Stanford University. He also holds an M.F.A. in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University and a B.A. in English and Drama & Dance from Morehouse College. A former Mellon Foundation Teaching Race Fellow, Point Scholar, and Editorial and Anti-Racism Fellow for Dance Studies Association (DSA), Dr. Jones additionally holds certificates from Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC) and Lincoln Center Education (LCE).
Before joining SIUE, Dr. Jones served as a lecturer in the Department of Women and Gender Studies at Hunter College. He also designed courses in Black Studies, dance history, and media studies at Stanford University, where he received the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Department of African and African American Studies. In addition, he taught at Hope House, a Bay Area residential drug and alcohol treatment facility for women, many of whom were formerly incarcerated. Prior to his doctoral studies, Dr. Jones held senior leadership roles, including Arts Director for New Haven Public Schools (Co-Op), where he received the Wilsonian Soldier Award presented by Kenny Leon, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Long Wharf Theatre for implementing the first-ever August Wilson Monologue Competition in Connecticut. He also served as a board member of the historic Shubert Theatre/Connecticut Association for the Performing Arts. Additional positions include Director of the Black Male Initiative (BMI) at Bronx Community College, Associate Producer for the New York Shakespeare Exchange, and Producing Humanities Fellow at New York Live Arts, supporting the inaugural Live Ideas: James Baldwin, This Time! Festival.
A proud member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC) and the Association of Arts Administration Educators, Dr. Jones' professional portfolio spans LIFT Dance ATL, New York Theatre Workshop, Boneau/Bryan-Brown Theatrical Press Agency, Parsons Dance, Ballet Hispánico, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, and Punchdrunk’sSleep No More. His producing credits include landmark works such as Lynn Nottage’s Ruined, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s The Exonerated, and Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out.
As a performer, Dr. Jones has appeared in works by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Tarell Alvin McCraney, T. Lang, Bubba Carr, Earl Mosley, Sharon Wong, Christine Kershaw, and Kevin Wynn. His artistic training includes study at The Ailey School, EMIA/Hearts of Men, NYU Tisch, the British American Drama Academy (BADA), Spelman College, New Haven Ballet, the Educational Center for the Arts, and the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
In his free time, Dr. Jones remains engaged in foster care advocacy, sex trafficking and intimacy harm reduction initiatives, and hiking with his pup, Langston
