The Jazz Program proudly appointed Mr. Christopher Johnson to the Jazz and African American Experience faculty position. As part of the Jazz Program's commitment to contribute to the New School's initiative to reinvent the liberal arts and sciences, he will be developing and teaching several liberal arts courses relevant to Jazz within the social, political, economic, and aesthetic contexts of the African American experience. Commenting on his role at the Jazz Program, Mr. Johnson stressed that he hoped "to give the music students more of a liberal arts background. There is such a natural fit between American Studies and Jazz as an American art form. There are countless correlations in American history, literature, and Jazz." During the 1997/98 academic year, Mr. Johnson will teach three courses at the Jazz Program, including The Culture of American Literature, The Culture of American History, and Jazz and the Culture of the African American Experience. Students from other divisions and disciplines at the New School are also enrolled in Mr. Johnson's courses thereby gaining more exposure to the African American experience.

An alto saxophonist, Mr. Johnson is currently completing his doctoral dissertation on "A Social History of the Drum" in the American Studies Program at New York University. After working on graduate studies in the History of American Civilization Program at Harvard University, he received a Master's degree from New York University with a thesis on the lives of turn-of the century African American musicians. He also holds a Bachelor's degree from Hampshire College, where he specialized in music history, cultural anthropology, and urban studies.