Congratulations to James Gordon Williams, assistant professor of African American Studies, who is the recipient of the JV Educational Leadership Award. The honor recognizes outstanding leadership within the field of higher education. Williams’s interdisciplinary research and teaching interests at Syracuse University include critical improvisation studies and popular music studies relative to close textual analysis of African American musical forms.

Williams states, “I am very grateful for my work to be recognized by the JV Educational Leadership Award because it shows I am having a positive impact on Syracuse University students, which is the most important thing for me as a teacher. The mission of my teaching is a discursive intervention into invisible, hegemonic ideas of what qualifies as art and music because that belief system has been predominantly reflected in the curriculum for generations.While things may have improved, the fact remains that not all human expression is given the same value and serious study.”

Williams will accept the honor at the Males of Color Empowerment Conference in October at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.