LAKE ERIE COLLEGE’S DR. DAVID MOODY ELECTED BOARD CHAIR OF THE POPULAR CULTURE ASSOCIATION/AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION

David L. Moody, Ph.D., Retention and Advising Specialist and adjunct professor at Lake Erie College, has been elected the Board Chair of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (PCA/ACA). In addition to being chair for the Black Popular Culture area of PCA/ACA for several years, Dr. Moody has had an increasingly visible role within the association since he first joined.

The PCA/ACA is a nonprofit organization of scholars who study popular culture and offer a venue for others to come together and share ideas about the field. Over the past thirteen years, Dr. Moody has had the opportunity to share his knowledge, thoughts and research regarding cultural issues in America by participating as a presenter, student sponsor (three of his former undergraduate students have presented papers at PCA/ACA), panel chairperson and Area Chair for the PCA/ACA. In addition, he presented at two PCA/ACA international conferences (Finland, 2009; Costa Rica, 2011). He has also served as an Area Chair since 2011 and in 2019 he created the new special topics area for PCA/ACA titled Black Popular Culture.  

In 2014, Dr. Moody was the recipient of the Harry Shaw Award, presented to him by the African American Culture Area of PCA/ACA. Additionally, a new committee was formed in 2018 to restructure/rename the award and make it a part of the PCA/ACA annual awards ceremony. The Harry Shaw and Katrina Hazzard-Donald Award for Outstanding Contributions to African American Popular Culture Research is given yearly to the individual who has contributed significantly to research on African American Popular Culture.

Dr. Moody is the author of two books that focus on issues relating to diversity: The Complexity and Progression of Black Representation in Film and Television (2016) and Political Melodies in the Pews ?: The Voice of the Black Christian Rapper in the Twenty-first-Century Church (2012) published by Lexington Books (a subsidiary of Rowman and Littlefield). He has also served as a peer reviewer for The Journal of American Culture, Journal of Pan-African Studies, The Journal of Popular Culture, and Routledge.

“My expectations in life have always been to offer helpful guidance, positive leadership and heartfelt inspiration to students, as well as my colleagues inside and outside the classroom,” said Dr. Moody. “PCA/ACA has given me an opportunity to participate in an educational environment designed to provide a multicultural experience and foster friendships between people of all cultures and disciplines. I am honored to be elected to the board and serve as a Trustee at Large for PCA/ACA.”

    Jennifer Swartz-Levine, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at LEC shares that not only is Dr. Moody’s election an exciting honor for him and for Lake Erie College, it is groundbreaking in another way. In its 50-year history, there has never been a black chair of the board at the PCA/ACA.

“Assuming a premier leadership role within the organization is a testament to Dave’s long involvement with the organization and his outstanding scholarship on Black popular culture,” says Dr. Swartz-Levine. “I am so very thrilled for Dave; he has been involved in the PCA for years and to see his leadership, commitment, enthusiasm and scholarship recognized in this way by peers in the Pop Culture community of scholars is magnificent.”