Music.
Culture.
Psychology.
Dr. Arthur C. Jones is a clinical psychologist and interdisciplinary teacher, scholar, and singer.
Throughout his career -- in his teaching, scholarship and community work -- he has focused on issues of culture, power, and privilege, with an early specialty in African American and multicultural psychology.
His work on the spirituals, begun in the early 1990s, with an expanded interdisciplinary reach, grew naturally from his early work in clinical psychology, as both a practitioner and scholar. He has been inspired by the power of the music and teaching passed on to us through song by enslaved African peoples in America, and particularly the lessons these songs offer for building an inclusive, compassionate world.
Keeping the Spirituals alive.
THE CALLING:
Dr. Jones is the author of numerous professional publications, including the award-winning book, “Wade in the Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals,” now in its third edition.
Spirituals emerged from the crucible of slavery. They inspired enslaved African Americans to risk their lives for the chance to be free. “Wade in the Water” celebrates these spirituals as an art form and as unique and powerful cultural expression. For those with little knowledge of the tradition, it provides a wealth of information. For those who know and love the spirituals, it offers a fresh prespective and an invitation to deeper understanding, spiritual transformation, and social renewal.
“Throughout my career — in my teaching, scholarship and community work — I have focused on issues of culture, power, and privilege, with an early specialty in African American and multicultural psychology. My work on the spirituals, begun in the early 1990s, with an expanded interdisciplinary reach, grew naturally from my early work in clinical psychology, as both a practitioner and scholar.”
— Dr. Arthur C. Jones
Dr. Jones is the Founder, and active choir member, of the award-winning Spirituals Project. In his role as Professor Emeritus, Dr. Jones continues to serve as an informal advisor to The Spirituals Project, and he participates actively with The Spirituals Project Choir as a chorister, soloist and communal song leader.
“I have been inspired by the power of the music and teaching passed on to us through song by my enslaved ancestors, and particularly the lessons these songs offer for building an inclusive, compassionate world. Long before our twentieth and twenty-first century focus on the idea of a "beloved community," women and men in bondage passed on to us a clear blueprint for the building of such a community!”
— Dr. Arthur C. Jones
In recent years, Dr. Jones has been exploring the contemplative foundations of early Christianity and their meanings for effective social action. He has encountered multiple parallels to the teachings embedded in the African American spirituals tradition.