Miami associate professor takes on lead editor role for prestigious art history journal
Jordan Fenton leads Ohio editorial board for African Arts
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Published
Jordan Fenton, associate professor of Art History, works with herbalist Chief Asuqua Effiong Effanga in Akpabuyo, Nigeria, in 2018. Fenton recently began a new role as lead editor of African Arts, a prestigious international academic journal. (Photo by Essien Eyo Effiong)
Miami associate professor takes on lead editor role for prestigious art history journal
•
Published
A self-described “rebellious art ºÚÁÏÉçÇø without a cause” as an undergraduate, Jordan Fenton found his purpose while taking Fred T. Smith’s African art history class at Kent State University.
Smith served as a friend and mentor to Fenton, opening his eyes to the possibilities of being immersed in other cultures to learn about art. At that time, Fenton said, he “boldly declared” he would eventually become a professor of African art history.
Fenton made good on that proclamation. Now an associate professor of Art History at ºÚÁÏÉçÇø, he’s helping to open others’ eyes, both in his teaching position and in his new role as lead editor of African Arts, a prestigious international academic journal that features research and critical discussion centered on pre-modern, modern, and contemporary African arts and cultural expressions.
Miami is one of four schools responsible for publishing the quarterly journal, along with UCLA, the University of Florida, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“To really put our best foot forward and help advance the field in many ways, that’s a tremendous honor,” Fenton said. “It’s exciting in many ways, the potential to possibly shape the field for the better. To me, this is some of the most valuable service to your profession one could perform. I’m really looking forward to giving back.”
First published in 1967, African Arts presents peer-reviewed articles, special themed issues, book and exhibition reviews, feature stories, photo essays, and more.
The Ohio-based editorial board for African Arts includes Fenton, Matthew Rarey (Oberlin College), Sarah Van Beurden (Ohio State University), Kristen Windmuller-Luna (Cleveland Museum of Art), and Joseph Underwood (Kent State University). Each board is responsible for one issue a year.
“Miami is the home for this,” Fenton said. “It’s a beautiful publication, but it also has a lot of weight as the flagship publication for anything in terms of African expression and African art.
“Miami has always been interested in global education and global awareness, and this is evidence of that participation. Miami is a player in distributing knowledge about the world and its art and cultures.”
Fenton specializes in African art history, including Nigerian masquerade arts, secret societies, esoteric knowledge systems, funerary rituals and installations, dress, and economics. He published the book "Masquerade and Money in Urban Nigeria: The Case of Calabar" from University of Rochester Press in 2022.
A crucial element of Fenton’s current research is working ethically with local artists. In studying masquerade culture, Fenton has been initiated into seven long-standing, ancestral secret societies as an outsider in Nigeria. He is one of the few to be apprenticed into the Ekpe society in Nigeria as an outsider.
“It really adds a great depth in terms of being able to teach the world about the beauty and importance of Nigerian masquerade culture,” Fenton said. “In many ways, African culture is not art, per se, but is a part of everyday lived life. It’s multimedia. It’s performative. There is music. There is ritual. It’s really everything that life is.”
Smith served as a friend and mentor to Fenton, opening his eyes to the possibilities of being immersed in other cultures to learn about art. At that time, Fenton said, he “boldly declared” he would eventually become a professor of African art history.
Fenton made good on that proclamation. Now an associate professor of Art History at ºÚÁÏÉçÇø, he’s helping to open others’ eyes, both in his teaching position and in his new role as lead editor of African Arts, a prestigious international academic journal that features research and critical discussion centered on pre-modern, modern, and contemporary African arts and cultural expressions.
Miami is one of four schools responsible for publishing the quarterly journal, along with UCLA, the University of Florida, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“To really put our best foot forward and help advance the field in many ways, that’s a tremendous honor,” Fenton said. “It’s exciting in many ways, the potential to possibly shape the field for the better. To me, this is some of the most valuable service to your profession one could perform. I’m really looking forward to giving back.”
First published in 1967, African Arts presents peer-reviewed articles, special themed issues, book and exhibition reviews, feature stories, photo essays, and more.
The Ohio-based editorial board for African Arts includes Fenton, Matthew Rarey (Oberlin College), Sarah Van Beurden (Ohio State University), Kristen Windmuller-Luna (Cleveland Museum of Art), and Joseph Underwood (Kent State University). Each board is responsible for one issue a year.
“Miami is the home for this,” Fenton said. “It’s a beautiful publication, but it also has a lot of weight as the flagship publication for anything in terms of African expression and African art.
“Miami has always been interested in global education and global awareness, and this is evidence of that participation. Miami is a player in distributing knowledge about the world and its art and cultures.”
Fenton specializes in African art history, including Nigerian masquerade arts, secret societies, esoteric knowledge systems, funerary rituals and installations, dress, and economics. He published the book "Masquerade and Money in Urban Nigeria: The Case of Calabar" from University of Rochester Press in 2022.
A crucial element of Fenton’s current research is working ethically with local artists. In studying masquerade culture, Fenton has been initiated into seven long-standing, ancestral secret societies as an outsider in Nigeria. He is one of the few to be apprenticed into the Ekpe society in Nigeria as an outsider.
“It really adds a great depth in terms of being able to teach the world about the beauty and importance of Nigerian masquerade culture,” Fenton said. “In many ways, African culture is not art, per se, but is a part of everyday lived life. It’s multimedia. It’s performative. There is music. There is ritual. It’s really everything that life is.”
Established in 1809, ºÚÁÏÉçÇø is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg. Interested in learning more about the College of Creative Arts? Visit their website for more information.