Joycelyn Wilson is known to many as a “hip-hop scholar,” but she’s actually an educational anthropologist, exploring hip-hop’s intersections with innovation, design, and social justice.

Joycelyn Wilson

Assistant Professor

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts School of Literature, Media, and Communication

Joycelyn Wilson is known to many as a “hip-hop scholar,” but she’s actually an educational anthropologist, exploring hip-hop’s intersections with innovation, design, and social justice.

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.”

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https://iac.gatech.edu/people/experts/joycelyn-wilson

News and Recent Appearances

From Breakbeats to the Dance Floor: How Hip-Hop and House Revolutionized Music and Culture

There was a time when artists representing two of America’s biggest homegrown musical genres wouldn’t get a look in at the Grammys.

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Beyond Genre: Exploring Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter and Tina Turner's Influence

In her analysis, Joycelyn Wilson explores Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' album, influenced by icons like Tina Turner, representing a bold departure into country-pop fusion, while delving into its cultural resonance and musical evolution.

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30 Years Later, Story of Freaknik Gets Told

Joycelyn Wilson, assistant professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, says the release of 'Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told' continues to raise the profile of Atlanta’s role in hip-hop overall, not just in the South.

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Georgia Tech Hip Hop Scholar Featured in Google Arts & Culture’s Atlanta Page

Joycelyn Wilson's essay on hip hop anchor's the genre's section of the site, which also includes two stories about her HipHop2020 Innovation Archive.

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Hip-Hop Influences Everything

Hip-hop is more than a music genre. It is a cultural movement whose influence can be seen everywhere. In honor of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, Georgia Tech experts examine its origins and its impact.

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Black History Month: Doing the Work

Doing the Work introduces you to a few of the people who are making a difference in the Tech community and beyond.

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An Age of Empowerment: Meet Joycelyn Wilson

Wilson’s research examines hip-hop and what it says about the world we live in.

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