The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies is extremely fortunate to feature the following esteemed academics, contributors and content-creators (in alphabetical order)
ELIZABETH AMISU is author of the landmark academic book, The Dangerous Philosophies of Michael Jackson: His Music, His Persona, and His Artistic Afterlife (2016), and the editor of the Academic Companion to Michael Jackson Studies I (2015). She holds an MA in Early Modern English Literature from King’s College London, and is co-founder of The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies.
ANDREAS ARDANIC has completed a master’s degree in English and French language teaching at the University of Graz in Austria and is currently in his teacher training year. In the course of his studies, he became extremely interested in Literary Studies and dealt with various forms of anglophone and francophone literature. He has also been a hobby guitarist and songwriter as well as an avid explorer of music for over ten years now.
JAMON BULL is a teacher who specializes in History, and one of the leading voices of the Michael Jackson fan community, with the acclaimed MJ Cast, the internet’s premiere Michael Jackson podcast, which offers bi-monthly news and discussion on the King of Pop and his family, whilst delving back into their history, artistry and legacy.
NADA BASHEERis an avid non-fiction reader and reviewer, a long-time Michael Jackson fan and student. She runs a successful blog, filled with fantastic insights and remarkable detail on her reading at Overloved and tweets prolifically at @overloved.
TONI BOWERS is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. She specializes in English Literature from the Restoration to the French Revolution. She is the author of Force or Fraud: British Seduction Stories and the Problem of Resistance (2011) and The Politics of Motherhood: British Writing and Culture (1996).
LISA BRISSE is author of The Man in Our Mirror: A Reflection of Our Collective Soul and an Exercise Physiologist & Life/Wellness (Heart Coach) for 25 years. She started State of the Heart Fitness, to address the physical, emotional and spiritual heart. Here, she teaches people how to honor their bodies through movement and self-care.
JAN CARLSON, author of ‘Case Study: The Caricature’ in Words and Violence (2013), is a retired Administrative Professional. She is a lifelong observer of music and its relevance to human emotion, and an avid reader of philosophy, history, mythology and ancient cultures. She lives in a rural community in the Midwestern United States where she continues her interminable search for meaning.
MATTHEW DELMONT is Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University & author of The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia (2012). He has lectured widely on African-American history, mixed-race identity, the Obama presidency, hip-hop, oral history and social media.
SUSAN FAST is Professor of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University, Canada. Her research interests include representations of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity and geopolitical violence in contemporary popular music. She is author of In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music (2001) and Dangerous (2014).
JEREMY SAMUEL FAUST is a composer and serves as president of the Grammy-award winning vocal ensemble, Roomful of Teeth. He has written for both Slateand the Journal of Popular Music and Society. He is a doctor and works in New York City.
RYAN GAREY is a Popular Culture scholar with an MA in English. His research interests include gender and class relations and hegemony in popular music. His Master’s thesis, ‘Who’s Bad? Disrupting Cultural Reproduction Through Representations of Michael Jackson’, explores the subversive potential of Jackson’s art in society. Ryan is currently a law student at UCLA.
JEREMY GILBERT is a Professor of Cultural and Political Theory and editor of the journal, New Formations. He writes widely on cultural theory, politics and music. His work has appeared in various international publications and been translated into French, Spanish and German. His most recent book is Common Ground: Democracy and Collectivity in an Age of Individualism (2013).
ANDY HEALY is the author of the MJ101 Series, in which Healy delivers a comprehensive curated list of Michael Jackson’s work. His titles include Greatest Songs, The Short Films, The Remixes, Off The Wall, HIStory, and The Performances. His dynamic and innovative books are delivered completely free, and are filled with fascinating insights on many aspects of Michael Jackson art, life, short films and performance.
KERRY HENNIGAN is a global MJ pilgrim, who combines her life-long love of travel with her love for Michael Jackson. Since retiring from full time employment in early 2019, she spends her time travelling, writing and studying. Her current research focuses are Ancient and Medieval History, Archaeology and Anthropology. She produces the monthly newsletter, A Candle for Michael, runs a widely-subscribed Facebook group, Michael Jackson’s Short Film ‘Ghosts‘ and has her own blog on WordPress.
SYLVIA J. MARTIN is a Professor in the Anthropology department at Pomona College, Claremont, CA. She was also the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in Hong Kong 2010-2011.
LISHA MCDUFF is a classically trained professional musician with an MA in Popular Music Studies from the University of Liverpool. She is currently continuing her research at McMaster University, focusing on the art of Michael Jackson. She is the co-presenter of the acclaimed academic blog, Dancing with the Elephant: Conversations about Michael Jackson, His Art and Social Change.
ROBERTA MEEK is a full-time lecturer at Muhlenberg College. A historian trained at Temple University, she specializes in African American history and the history of race and social movements in the US context. In Fall 2015, she was able to put both her scholarly expertise and knowledge to work in teaching a First Year Seminar on Michael Jackson.
KOBENA MERCER is Professor of History of Art and African-American Studies at Yale University. He specialises in the work of black artists and his research addresses cross-cultural aesthetics in transnational contexts where issues of race, sexuality, and identity converge.
KARIN MERX is a classically trained professional musician with an MA in Cultural Studies (Art History). She is the author of the academic book, A festive parade of highlights. La Grande Parade as evaluation of the museum policy of Edy De Wilde at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2013). This is an indispensable source for students and researchers of museum history and modern art in the twentieth century.
ZACK O’MALLEY GREENBURGis the senior editor of Media & Entertainment at Forbesand author of Michael Jackson, Inc (2014) and Empire State of Mind (2012). In a decade at Forbes,Zack has investigated topics from pension fund scandals to Katy Perry’s touring business to Wu-Tang Clan’s secret album. He has served as an expert source for the BBC, NPR, MTV, NY Times and 60 Minutes, and as a speaker at SXSW, TEDx, Georgetown, Harvard and Yale.
ANETA OSTASZEWSKA is the author of Michael Jackson. An Anthological Perspective (2009). She currently works at the Higher School of Pedagogy of Rehabilitation, “Pedagogium” and her research focus is the category of childhood and child image in popular culture.
ISABELLE PETITJEAN is the author of “La culture pop au pantheon des Beaux-Arts. ‘Dangerous’, de Mark Ryden à Michael Jackson,” and the academic article, “The Voice in the Mirror, Michael Jackson: From a Vocal Identity to its Double in Sound” published by ‘Volume!’ The French Journal of Popular Music Studies (Annual Prize Young Researcher recipient from the IASPMbfE, 2011). She completed her doctorate in musicology on Michael Jackson at the University of Paris IV – Paris Sorbonne in 2019.
CONSTANCE PIERCE is a visual artist especially interested in the import of Jackson’s global influence in the area of visual culture. She has exhibited regionally, nationally, and in Europe and Japan. She is Associate Professor of Fine Art at St. Bonaventure University (NY). Her notable works include, ‘The Dance: Epiphany and Loss (Watercolor Series)’, ‘Will You Be There (Drawing Series)‘ and ‘RUACH HAKODESH: The Epiphanic and Cosmic Nature of Imagination in the Art of Michael Jackson’.
MARIE PLASSE is Professor of English at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. She is the author of numerous articles on Shakespeare, Italian American women’s fiction, and popular culture.
FRANCESCA T. ROYSTER is Professor in the Department of English at DePaul University. She is the author of Becoming Cleopatra: The Shifting Image of an Icon and Sounding Like a No-No: Queer Sounds and Eccentric Acts in the Post-Soul Era.
IVANA RECMANOVA is a graduated linguist and communication theoretician from Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. She works as an information, support specialist at the National Library of Technology in Prague, Czech Republic, and is also an amateur rapper. Her research interests include the use of mathematics, physics, biology, and computer science in linguistics, identity studies, and textual analysis.
Q. GABRIEL SMITH was an acclaimed content-creator, and one of the leading voices of the Michael Jackson fan community, with the acclaimed MJ Cast, the internet’s premiere Michael Jackson podcast, which offers bi-monthly news and discussion on the King of Pop and his family, whilst delving back into their history, artistry and legacy.
WILLA STILLWATER is the author ofM Poetica: Michael Jackson’s Art of Connection and Defiance. Her research focuses on the ways in which cultural ideologies are enacted through physiognomy and she is co-founder and co-author of the acclaimed blog, Dancing with the Elephant: Conversations about Michael Jackson, His Art and Social Change.
LORENA TURNER holds an MFA in Fine Art Photography, and now develops social science research projects with a heavy visual component. She is the author of The Michael Jacksons, and has also completed a project on post-conflict identity in Rwanda, and a longitudinal study with an Afro-Colombian community living outside of Cartagena examining the impact of Colombia’s neo-liberal policies there. She is a lecturer at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
JOSEPH VOGELis Assistant Professor at Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts. His research focus is contemporary American literature, Film Studies, popular music, popular culture, and environmental studies. He is the author of several books on Michael Jackson including Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson (2011) and Featuring Michael Jackson: Collected Writings on the King of Pop (2012).
MICHELE WALLACE is Professor of English, Women’s Studies and Film Studies at the City College of New York and the City University of NY Graduate Centre. She is author of Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman(1979) and Black Popular Culture: A Project, Dark Designs and Visual Culture (2005).
RAVEN WOODS is founder of AllForLove Blog,a unique hub for engaging discussion of Michael Jackson’s art and life. Her credentials include the W.B. Yeats Award, the International Merit Award from “The Atlanta Review,” The Hackney Literary Award, and the Albert and Elaine Borchard Fellowship. She holds an MA in English from Mississippi State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Georgia College and State University.
SUSAN WOODWARD is the author of Otherness and Power: Michael Jackson and His Media Critics (2014). A licensed clinical social worker, she holds a master’s degree in social work, and has training as a psychotherapist. She currently works in (legal) public defense, and her clients are mostly adolescents, who have cases in family court.