English Professor Explores Race, Culture and Value in Annual Lecture

The disparity particularly hits Black artists, said Richard Purcell, the university's Hubert H. McAlexander Chair and associate professor of English. Purcell, who also directs the interdisciplinary minor in cinema studies, presented his findings March 3 at a public lecture honoring him as the university's 2025-26 Humanities Teacher of the Year.

He explored how Black artists – from museum curators and visual artists to musicians such as Jay-Z and 50 Cent – responded to the economic upheaval of the Great Recession. That era gave birth to a host of online entertainment options.

"If you think about the subscriptions that we pay for streaming services versus what artists get paid out from it, it's literally pennies on the dollar," Purcell said.

Purcell is working on a book examining the history of Black creative work being celebrated while the people behind it go undercompensated. The upcoming publication discusses how artistic labor, such as working as a musician, is often glamorized as creative, flexible work.

"Of course, it can be," he said. "But mostly, what is called flexible work is often low paying, very exploitative and not sustainable. So, music and musicians become a way of sustaining a myth about work that doesn't exactly match the reality.

"I see popular culture in a similar way the late scholar Stuart Hall did; it's a place where we form our desires and create myths about what is possible and impossible. In that regard, it's an important sphere for scholarly research and teaching."

During his lecture, Purcell discussed Hollywood's portrayal of American culture through the lens of race, value and media at the turn of the 21st century.

The Mississippi Humanities Council and the university's College of Liberal Arts selected Purcell for the honor earlier this year. The council honors educators at each of the state's colleges and universities annually for outstanding work in traditional humanities fields.

"The humanities challenge students to ask difficult questions, consider different perspectives and better understand the human experience," said Lee Cohen, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and professor of psychology. "Dr. Purcell brings that spirit into the classroom every day."

Purcell's research spans Black literature, film and media studies, poetry, music and other forms of Black performance and visual art. Since joining the Ole Miss faculty in 2022, he has proven his knack for inspiring students.

Caroline Wiggington, chair of the Department of English, nominated him for the recognition.

"Professor Purcell is a fantastic teacher at every level, from the general education lecture through the graduate seminar," Wigginton wrote in her nomination letter. "His classes are both popular and transformative, and he contributes coursework and mentorship that we would be otherwise unable to provide our students."

Interactions with students are what keep Purcell's charisma fully powered, the professor said.

"I really feed off of their energy," he said. "I feed off of their curiosity and desire for inquiry."

He describes the dynamic of teaching as not unlike stand-up comedy.

"You really live and die with your audience in teaching," Purcell said. "You know when you're doing a good job because they will let you know."

Top: Richard Purcell (center), the university's Hubert H. McAlexander Chair and associate professor of English, chats with Lee Cohen (left), dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Douglass Sullivan-Gonzalez, interim chair and professor of history, following Purcell's March 3 lecture. Purcell is the university's 2025-26 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Photo by Marvis Herring/University Marketing and Communications