James Jones, D.Min.

Dr. Jimmy Jones has been teaching at Manhattanville for 20 years in the World Religions Department, and was the first Chairperson of the African Studies Program at the College. "I enjoy teaching classes that bridge the disciplines of World Religions and African Studies", he said. "For example, I teach a course called the 'Religious and Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr.' that focuses on the development and history of the US Civil Rights movement and how it was impacted by King's theology."

Professor Jones has been active in a number of interfaith efforts in the United States. These efforts include: President's University Council-Religious and Spiritual Life at Yale University; Advisory Board of Hartford Seminary's Duncan Macdonald Center for the study of Islam and Christian Muslim Relations; a project for creating models of interfaith community conflict resolution co-sponsored by Fuller Theological Seminary and the Salam Peace and Justice Institute at American university and; a founder and co-coordinator of the Manhattanville College Middle East Forum, an effort that convened peace oriented private conversations between national Jewish and Muslim leaders.

Internationally, Dr. Jones has lectured at, taught in or consulted to institutions in Bahrain, Bosnia, Bermuda, Egypt, India, Jerusalem, Trinidad-Tobago, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Over the last four decades, much of his personal and professional work has been focused on conflict resolution within families, communities, and across national and cultural boundaries. His most recent publication is, a chapter in the book Peace-Building by, between, and beyond Muslims and Evangelical Christians (2010). Dr. Jones earned his Doctorate of Ministry in Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary, a Masters in Religion from Yale University Divinity School and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education (History) from Hampton University. He is also a visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences (Ashburn VA). Currently Professor Jones serves as a consultant to a national initiative to set standards of qualifications for Muslim chaplains and a related effort to establish a world-class Muslim American seminary.