Bio

As assistant professor of hip-hop studies and digital media, Joycelyn Wilson’s courses highlight how hip-hop is rooted in innovation and pedagogics and can be used to inspire design thinking, engineering education, and digital and computational media. She is an educational anthropologist, and her scholarly work focuses on the impact of hip-hop. Wilson received her B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, and a master's from Pepperdine University. She can comment on pop culture stories, Atlanta hip-hop, and hip-hop’s intersections with politics and culture. Joycelyn sees the field of hip-hop studies moving toward a more intentional integration with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Driven by her roots coming from a family of educators, she believes that culture, hip-hop, and the arts have a way of exposing a person to their gifts and that exposure is the true essence of education. She is also focused on the impact and importance of the upcoming 50th anniversary of hip-hop, and, when asked how Atlanta has influenced the culture of hip-hop, she replied, “Atlanta influences everything.”