Russell A. Potter is an American writer and college professor. His work encompasses Hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 culture, popular music, and the history of British exploration of the Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 in the nineteenth century. His books include Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism (1995) and Arctic Spectacles: The Frozen North in Visual Culture, 1818-1875 (2007), as well as a novel, Pyg: The Memoirs of a Learned Pig (2011). He teaches at Rhode Island College

Rhode Island College

Rhode Island College is a nationally ranked, coeducational, state-supported comprehensive college founded in 1854, located in Providence, Rhode Island, USA...

, where he is editor of the Arctic Book Review. He also worked as a consultant on, and appears in, the Nova

NOVA (TV series)

Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...

 documentary Arctic Passage

Arctic Passage

Arctic Passage is the U. S. title of a two-hour TV documentary on the Arctic explorers Sir John Franklin and Roald Amundsen, co-produced by ITN Factual in Britain and NOVA/WGBH in the U.S. ITN Factual handled the production and filming; the film was directed by Louise Osmond, and Harald Gunnar...

 (2006).

Potter was born in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 in 1960 He attended St. John's Lutheran School, Gilmour Academy

Gilmour Academy

Gilmour Academy is an independent, Roman Catholic, coeducational, college-preparatory school in the Cleveland suburb of Gates Mills, Ohio. Founded in 1946 by the Brothers of Holy Cross, it offers a Montessori preschool program and traditional kindergarten through grade 12. A boarding program is...

, and the Friends School in Cleveland (later the School on Magnolia

School on Magnolia

The School on Magnolia was an alternative high school in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1971 as the Friends School in Cleveland, and its association with the Religious Society of Friends continued through 1975, at which point the local Friends meeting decided that the school was no longer...

). In 1979, he founded the Black Snake record label, on which he released two albums of his own solo guitar compositions, as well as a 45 rpm single of a bluegrass version of Devo

Devo

Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...

's "Mongoloid

Mongoloid (song)

"Mongoloid" is the first single released by Devo in 1977, on the Booji Boy Records label. It was backed with the song "Jocko Homo." "Mongoloid" also had one of the first music videos made using collage. "Mongoloid" would later be re-recorded by Devo and appeared on the album Q: Are We Not Men? A:...

" by the Hotfoot Quartet. He later attended Goddard College

Goddard College

Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...

 and The Evergreen State College

The Evergreen State College

The Evergreen State College is an accredited public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. It is located in Olympia, Washington, USA. Founded in 1967, Evergreen was formed to be an experimental and non-traditional college...

; he earned his Ph.D. in English Literature

English literature

English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

 from Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 in 1991. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

.

Books

• Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-hop and the Politics of Postmodernism, SUNY Press 1995 (ISBN 0791426262)

• Arctic Spectacles: The Frozen North in Visual Culture, 1818-1875, University of Washington Press 2007 (ISBN 0295986808)

• Pyg: The Memoirs of a Learned Pig, Canongate Books 2011 (ISBN 0857862405)

External links

• - website of Russell A. Potter, Ph.D.