Professor of English,
Director of Folklore Program
at USU since 1998
Office: 302B Ray B. West Building
Phone: (435)797-2736
Department of English
3200 Old Main Hill
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84332
email: jthomas@english.usu.edu
Education
PhD, University of Oregon, 1992
MS, Utah State University, 1987
Previous Academic Positions
Professor Thomas was an associate professor of Folklore and Women's Studies at Indiana State University prior to coming to USU.
Teaching
An award-winning teacher, Dr. Thomas teaches folklore courses, especially in the areas of legend, the supernatural, material culture, theory and methods, folk narrative, and regional folklore.
Administration
Professor Thomas is the Director of the Folklore Program at Utah State University. She is also Co-Director of the Fife Folklore Conference.
Selected Publications
Naked Barbies, Warrior Joes, and Other Forms of Visible Gender (University of Illinois Press, 2003). This book analyzes the folklore about the most visible, sculptural manifestations of gender in the everyday world; it includes discussions of cemetery statuary, yard art, the Barbie doll, the Ken doll, and the G. I. Joe doll.
Featherless Chickens, Laughing Women, and Serious Stories (University Press of Virginia, 1997). This book won the Elli Kongas-Maranda Prize from the Women's section of the American Folklore Society for "outstanding work on women's traditional, vernacular, and local culture and/or work on feminist theory and folklore."
"Bluegrass and 'White Trash': A Case Study Concerning the Name 'Folklore,' and Class Bias." Journal of Folklore Research 37.1 (2000):23-52.
"Ride 'Em, Barbie Girl: Commodifying Folklore, Place, and the Exotic." Worldviews and the American West: The Life of the Place Itself. Eds. Polly Stewart, Steve Siporin, C.W. Sullivan III, and Suzi Jones. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2000. 65-86.
"Dumb Blondes, Dan Quayle, and Hillary Clinton: Gender, Sexuality, and Stupidity in Jokes." Journal of American Folklore 110.43 (1997): 277-313.
"Pickup Trucks, Horses, Women, and Foreplay: The Fluidity of Folklore." Western Folklore 54.3 (1995): 213-28.
"Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Postmodern: Folklore and Contemporary Literary Theory." Southern Folklore 51.2 (1994):107-120.
"Pain, Pleasure, and the Spectral: The Barfing Ghost of Burford Hall." Folklore Forum 24.2 (1991):27-38.
Professional Activities
Professor Thomas edited Midwestern Folklore from 1995-98. From 1995-97, she edited a magazine devoted to multicultural high school writing and folklore. She is a member of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research, the American Folklore Society, the California Folklore Society, and the Utah Folklore Society. In addition, she is a member of the Rowdy Grrrlz Legend Group. She also serves as a board member for the Utah Folk Arts Panel and Western Folklore.