James J. Davis, chair and professor of Spanish and Foreign Language Education, earned the B.A. in Spanish and English Education at Virginia State University, the M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature at the Ohio State University, and the Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. He also holds a certificate in Hispanic Studies from the University of Madrid. As a Fulbright scholar, he earned a certificate in Brazilian Studies and Portuguese from the Instituto Alumni in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Davis’ research interests are African Americans and foreign language learning , the history of Black education, and the manifestations of Blackness in the literature of the Dominican Republic.