Dr. Kenton Rambsy received his PhD (May 2015) and Masters in English (May 2012) from the University of Kansas. He is a 2010 Magna Cum-Laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College. He finished Morehouse as the top ranking scholar in the English department and received the distinction of being named the 2010 William Pickens Scholar. In 2008, he received a UNCF/Mellon-Mays Fellowship, and in 2009, he received Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Fellowship. Having served as a research assistant at both Vanderbilt University’s Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center in Nashville, Tennessee and Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in Atlanta, Georgia. From 2012- 2014, Kenton served as the Program Academic Committee chair for the Association for the Study of Life and African American History (ASALH). Kenton specializes in African American short stories, social geographies, and digital humanities) text-mining, topic modeling, and mapping softwares).
PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION
2015 – PhD in English (African American Literature ), The University of Kansas
2012 – Master of Arts in English , The University of Kansas
2010 – Bachelor of Arts in English (Philosophy), Morehouse College
APPOINTMENTS
June 2014 to June 2014 – Mapping the Future by Mining the Past: UNCF Mellon Summer Teaching and Learning Institute, Morehouse College, Andrew Mellon Foundation
July 2013 to July 2013 – Don’t Deny My Voice: Reading and Teaching African American Poetry, University of Kansas, National Endowment for the Humanities
Oct 2012 to Dec 2014 – Academic Program Committee Chair, Association for the Study of African-African American Life and History (ASALH)
Aug 2010 to Aug 2015 – Project Coordinator, Project on the History of Black Writing (HBW)
MEMBERSHIPS
Jan 2013 to Present – Modern Language Association (MLA)
Apr 2011 to Present – College Language Association
May 2010 to Present – Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
Aug 2009 to Present – Golden Key Honor Society
Aug 2008 to Present – Sigma Tau Delta
AWARDS
Jun 2016 – Schomburg-Mellon Summer Humanities Research Fellowship sponsored by Andrew Mellon Foundation Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Sep 2012 – Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Callaboratory (HASTAC) Fellowship sponsored by Duke University
Jun 2008 – UNCF Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship sponsored by Andrew Mellon Foundation
NEWS ARTICLES
Apr 2016 – Big Pimpin’ meets Big Data in a unique Jay Z class at UTA
Kenton Rambsy, Assistant Professor at University of Texas at Arlington teaches a class on rapper Jay Z . Rambsy uses analytics to dig into the meaning of the hip-hop star’s music
Mar 2016 – Getting Schooled On Jay Z: Professor Links Rapper’s Lyrics To Historic African-American Writers
Dr. Kenton Rambsy’s students are breaking down Jay Z’s lyrics for meaning and connecting those lyrics to the black American experience today.
Feb 2016 – Class connects Jay Z lyrics to past literature
Assistant professor Kenton Rambsy plans to use hip-hop artist Jay Z’s life and lyrics as a teaching tool for his literature class, The “Life and Times of S. Carter.
Feb 2016 – 99 Problems, But This Course Ain’t One: UTA Debuts Literature Class About Jay Z
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.
