Dr Alisha L. Jones

Dr Alisha Lola Jones has been appointed Academic Convenor for Research Cultures within the School of Arts and Humanities. In this role, Dr Jones will lead a wide-ranging initiative to examine and enrich the research environment across disciplines, with a particular emphasis on equity, sustainability, and cross-sector collaboration. Her programming will explore topics such as researcher well-being, institutional memory, neurodiversity, and strategic innovation—convening faculty, students, and external partners in reimagining what a flourishing research culture can be.

Dr Jones is an associate professor and director of research in the Faculty of Music at Cambridge, as well as co-editor of the Journal of Popular Music. A widely recognized performer-scholar and theologian, she consults globally with museums, conservatories, seminaries, and arts organisations on programming and content strategy. Her award-winning book Flaming? The Peculiar Theopolitics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance (Oxford University Press) was followed by major research on sound, taste, and womanist listening practices. She is currently completing two new volumes: Ultrasonic Tastemakers: Towards a Critical Gastromusicology and Sound Our Signatures: A Womanist Approach to Music Research. In her new convenor role, Dr Jones brings her interdisciplinary vision and public-facing ethos to bear on some of the most urgent challenges in higher education today by convening initiatives that explore life-work balancing and best practices for public engagement as scholars.