Mark J. Cox

Mark is a passionate polyglot, seasoned educator, published writer, skilled rapper, experienced filmmaker, and a former IT professional. Originally hailing from Northen New Jersey, he now resides in Baltimore City, where he lives with his loving wife and precocious son.

As a proud two-time HBCU graduate, he earned his bachelor's degree from Howard University in 2011 majoring in applied communications and minoring in Arabic. A decade later, he continued his academic journey, obtaining a master's degree in English from Bowie State University in 2021.

Mark enjoys exploring and expanding the boundaries of human potential through mindfulness practices and the digital humanities--a field that unifies his love for technology and the liberal arts. His work in this area aims to expand the ways in which digital tools and online learning can aid in enhancing our understanding of human cultural expression. His love of language learning and how language frames identity has cultivated his interest in the global hip-hop community.

In his comparative literature Ph.D. program he is currently working on a comparative critical discourse analysis of socially conscious Persian hip-hop and socially conscious American hip-hop. He firmly believes in the capacity of hip hop and its five elements to build bridges of affinity amongst the human family throughout the planet earth.