Dr. Jennifer Thomas

After receiving her B.A. in English at Furman University, Jennifer Thomas earned the Ph.D. in English and Women’s Studies at Emory University with an emphasis on the literature of the American south. After a postdoctoral fellowship in the Humanities and the Arts (Valparaiso University) she taught at Newberry College here in South Carolina. Jennifer joined the Governor’s School faculty when the school opened in 1999, as Chair of the English department. She is deeply invested in interdisciplinary connections and continuities, which are at the heart of the Governor’s School’s school-wide Humanities program, which she helped establish in collaboration with faculty in the arts and traditional academic disciplines. Jennifer has been the Dean and VP for Arts and Academics at the Governor’s School since 2019. She has also served on the Board of Governors of the SC Academy of Authors, an organization that works to promote and sustain South Carolina’s rich, complex literary life and history. Jennifer Thomas serves on the Executive Committee and the Grants and Program Committee of the SC Humanities Board.