Spring 2023 and spring 2024 seminars: Ph.D. candidate, literatures in english
Lauryn Jones is a second-year Ph.D. student in Cornell's Department of Literatures in English. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Southern California with a minor in songwriting. Her research sits at the intersection of literary studies, Black studies, and musicology, though her research interests include affect theory and sound studies. Currently, she works on critically analyzing how Black affect, particularly Black joy, is represented in the contemporary American literary tradition and American popular music. While she has a background in hip-hop studies, Jones's current focus is on the folk/country renaissance emerging in the contemporary American popular music scene.