For rapper and University of Virginia professor A.D. Carson, higher education and rap music can mix.

Carson presented his doctorate dissertation in the form of a 34-track rap album. He wrote the album, called “Owning My Masters: The Rhetorics of Rhymes & Revolutions,” while working on his doctorate for rhetorics, communication and information design at Clemson University.

As a part of Syracuse University’s Democratizing Knowledge series, Carson spoke at SU on Monday night, discussing his experience as a black man in the United States and the use of rap as an instrument in education.

During the event in Bird Library, Carson used videos, a PowerPoint presentation and live performances to present his topics. He performed songs from his dissertation album, including “Willie Revisited,” “Internal Contradiction” and “Good Mourning, America.”

“It was pushing genre conventions of scholarly work and it is something that students and the faculty should be seeing more of,” said Aja Martinez, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Democratizing Knowledge Core Collective.

One of the more thought-provoking topics Carson came across was the history of Clemson, his alma mater. Carson showed a video of a poem he wrote called “See the Stripes,” in which he states: “Clemson University, home of the Tigers, doesn’t do much acknowledging of those dark marks that it knows to be so integral a part of its existence.”

Carson said those “dark marks” are the plantation that the university was built on, as well as the honoring of both the people who lived on that plantation and those who helped build Clemson. Both of those parties benefited from slavery, Carson said.

“I think that what went on at Clemson and what is going on at Clemson is not unique to Clemson,” he said. “Many activist movements have borrowed from prior movements and contemporary movements, and that is something we should always be in observance of. The fact that we can look at how other people strategize in the ways that they act and the things that we think are appropriate to try and utilize where we are.”

It was these types of topics that dominated the presentation and performance. Carson’s own experiences, as well as the various examples he included in his songs and videos, helped engage the audience.

“I thought his presentation was phenomenal,” said Kenji Graham, an academic consultant for fullCIRCLE in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “The way that he presented, what he’s doing, what his goals are, everything he’s doing with rap music and educating people was done in a way that’s accessible to people who don’t listen to rap (or) enjoy rap music.”

The dissertation rap album can be found online, along with Carson’s other projects. Democratizing Knowledge’s upcoming events include “Reproductive Justice & Our Communities: A DK Conversation” on March 26 and a screening of “Asmarina,” accompanied by a Q&A, on April 23.

Said Graham: “He used his experience as a black man in America — used rap music — and now he’s educating people and inspiring people all in one in a non-traditional way.”

Published on February 5, 2018 at 11:10 pm

Contact Mateo: mtestlin@syr.edu