Faculty & Staff Resources

In February, PWW published “Lost in the City: An Exploration of Edward P. Jones’s Short Fiction” by Kenton Rambsy, a University of Texas, Arlington professor of African American literature, and Peace Ossom-Williamson, a librarian and the director of Research Data Services at the Arlington campus libraries.

Of the five films nominated for best documentary this year, three of them focus on African Americans. This week, we conclude our Oscar preview series talking about “I Am Not Your Negro,” a film that reminds us of writer James Baldwin’s significance – 30 years after his death.

It's crunch time in English 3347, only two weeks to go in the semester, and University of Texas at Arlington professor Kenton Rambsy is urging his class to buckle down. "This is our jam, everybody," he says calmly. "We're training ourselves to become better thinkers and writers. We have to be like LeBron in the fourth quarter."

This is definitely not your mother's English class. For one, there's the subject: Jay Z, the multimillionaire hip-hop mogul and husband of Lemonade-sipping superstar Beyoncé. Then there's the method. While Rambsy and his class of 30 students parse Jay's lyrics for meaning, they also spend a lot of time crunching numbers and presenting the results in graphs, pie charts and other data tools.

Call it "Big Pimpin'" meets Big Data. In analyzing the stats, Rambsy and his students seek to find the quantifiable elements of Jay's work, from the number of slant rhymes in his lyrics to the geographic locale of the artists he samples. It's a digital humanities course with a hip-hop flavor.

Usually students get to class early to pick a good seat. Get to Kenton Rambsy’s class early and you’ll hear Jay Z’s music playing in the room. The artist is the subject of a debut course called “The Life and Times of S. Carter.” Sean Carter is the given name of the Brooklyn-born rapper.

Jay Z is already a force in the worlds of music, entertainment, fashion, and sports. Now it seems he's poised to take over the academic world, as well. This semester, UT-Arlington debuted a literature course dedicated entirely to the hip hop mogul and businessman. It's the brainchild of African American Literature and Digital Humanities professor, Dr. Kenton Rambsy, who believes history will look at Jay Z as one of the great literary minds of our time.

Films that open early in the year are rarely remembered at the end of the year by Oscar voters. “Get Out” is an exception, earning four nominations – including best picture. We continue our Oscars preview series with a look at the film’s lasting appeal — and how it relates to the success of “Black Panther.” Joining us for the conversation is Kenton Rambsy, assistant professor of African American Literature & Digital Humanities at the University of Texas at Arlington.