Joshua Ro
Joshua Ro
Program:
Combined Program in Music and Black Studies
Contact:
Joshua Ro is a Ph.D. student in Music and Black Studies. Before coming to Yale, he was a neighborhood pastor in Flushing, Queens, New York, where he ministered to local youth, residents, and community organizations. He still lives there with his wife and son.
In 2023, Joshua’s article entitled “Womanist Imagination and Liberation from the Politics of Colorblind Positivism” was published in the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) blog, Black Perspectives.
His S.T.M. paper at Union, titled “Ascension: Jazz as a Formative Spiritual Ethic in Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone,” explored the intersections of jazz, spirituality, and communal formation.
He is currently exploring how these intersections continue to emerge in hip hop production, poetry, and practices of preservation.
Education:
B.A. English and History, University of Maryland, College Park
M.Div. Pastoral Ministry, Westminster Theological Seminary
S.T.M. Religion and the Black Experience, Union Theological Seminary
Research Interests:
Black studies; sound studies; sonic meaning-making; spiritualities in Black music; hip hop; jazz; religious studies