Throughout his sixteen years in honors education, Dr. J.D. Bowers focuses on high-impact, innovative and interdisciplinary academics, programming, and the development of students through scholars and leadership programs.
He has taught honors courses focused on genocide, justice, and human rights, through both a historical and political science lens. His courses on mass atrocities (focused on the Holocaust, Bosnia, Cyprus, Ireland, and Rwanda) often integrate study abroad programs as a way to enrich the educational engagement, to sites within those countries, to examine social, political, and judicial efforts, and post-atrocity societal reconstruction. He has also routinely traveled with students to Den Haag, Nederlands, to focus on the ICC and other international tribunals as mechanisms of the global community.
True to the honors-approach that learning can be fun, one of his most popular courses has been 'Cue and Soul: Black Food Culture in America, a class focused on the social, cultural, historical, and interdisciplinary dimensions of the cuisines. He also teaches several different Byrne Seminar courses to first-year students, including Reading the Times in which students learn to use the NYTimes and Wall Street Journal as central texts for knowledge and civic engagement, and he co-teaches Honors Masterclass which brings RU alumni and external speakers to campus to engage in conversations.
In Spring 2027, Dean Bowers will be offering an Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar, "Sunday, Bloody Sunday: Ireland's Troubles in History and Memory", along with a one-week travel-study program in March to Northern Ireland.
Dean Bowers also serves as a Faculty Fellow in Residence for the Honors College and lives in 5 Seminary Place alongside students, involved in and hosting many College events, activities, and programming, as well as serving as a mentor for those students who value the intergenerational dimensions of our learning-living community.
He grew up in both New Jersey (Surf City, LBI) and Pennsylvania (Northumberland), and he is an avid sailor, surfer, and water sports enthusiast, an avid fan of Philly's sports teams, and an avowed foodie of numerous cuisines and beverages (especially Italian coffee, wine, and Aperol Spritz). In the spirit of the farm-to-table movement, he travels to Cyprus every November to participate in the olive harvest and oil pressing.
In addition to his role as Dean and Professor of the Practice, Dr. Bowers is a Faculty Associate and member of the Executive Committee at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) within Rutgers Global. As a part of his outreach, he runs the Workshop on Genocide & Human Rights for undergraduate students interested in more deeply exploring the field of study through readings, author talks, site visits, and cultural events. Never one to give up on his research, he currently has two book manuscripts in progress, one on the unresolved Cyprus conflict and another about the genocide in Bosnia.
Nationally, he was a founder and the former Executive Director of the Council on Honors Education (CoHE), an organization of over 130 land-grant, public university honors colleges or programs, that has served to set the standard for high-impact, enriched collegiate education and research. He has also been involved in professional educator mentoring and leadership program development, conducts honors program reviews, and lectures widely.
Prior to coming to Rutgers in 2022, his thirty-plus-year academic career has included time at Punahou School (Hawai’i), The Madeira School (Virginia), Northern Illinois University, and the University of Missouri. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in History from Indiana University and a B.A. in Government from The College of William & Mary in Virginia.