WKU News

Lamont “Jack” Pearley, a graduate student in the WKU folklore studies program and a collaborator with the WKU Innovation Campus, has been named the first recipient of the prestigious MIT OpenDocLab Kentucky-based fellowship.

Pearley, host of the weekly African American Folklorist segment on WKU Public Radio and an inductee in the New York Blues Hall of Fame, was nominated for the fellowship to help identify, curate and amplify true folk stories from roots music and communities of color. The MIT OpenDocLab provides Pearley access to a community of creators working on non-traditional methods of documenting stories, as well as a focus on co-creation methodologies of working with communities to explore their stories. (Read more about Lamont ‘Jack’ Pearley here.)

“That’s what I'm engaged in – taking storytelling, entrepreneurship, and bringing them together to disseminate information in the collaborative effort,” Pearley said.

Drawing on MIT’s legacy of media innovation and its deep commitment to open and accessible information, the MIT Open Documentary Lab brings storytellers, technologists and scholars together to explore new documentary forms with a particular focus on collaborative, interactive and immersive storytelling. The organization had long run a fellowship program, but fellows were traditionally documentarians who were in residence in Massachusetts.

“The intersection of technology and storytelling provides an abundance of transformative opportunities to progress our society,” said WKU Potter College Dean Dr. Terrance Brown. “I cannot think of a better or more deserving person than Lamont ‘Jack’ Pearley to be the inaugural recipient of the MIT Open Documentary Lab Fellowship. His groundbreaking work in the areas of blues, folklore and community engagement provides impactful insight into diverse communities. I am honored to have him represent WKU in this project.”

MIT worked with a non-profit housed at the WKU Innovation Campus – AccelerateKY – to establish the fellowship. AccelerateKY was formed in 2021 through a partnership between Kentucky innovators and various labs at MIT.

“The MIT OpenDocLab has been a true partner in helping us think through the future of Kentucky’s economy,” said AccelerateKY board president Rusty Justice. “From our first innovation tours to their partnership in establishing this Kentucky-based virtual fellowship with their lab, the MIT team’s work on the process of co-creating stories has helped significantly shape our efforts in supporting Kentucky’s innovation ecosystem.”  

Sarah Wolozin, director of the MIT OpenDocLab, said working with the WKU Innovation Campus and AccelerateKY has been pivotal to establishing the program, and selecting a fitting recipient for the inaugural fellowship. “I can’t imagine a better inaugural recipient for this fellowship than Lamont,” she added. “His work across multiple media formats and with emerging technologies, and his commitment to co-creation approaches with the communities whose stories he’s documenting, is deeply aligned with our focus and work at MIT.” 

Here in Kentucky, the WKU Innovation Campus provides Pearley with space, advising and other resources for building his projects and his company.

“Lamont exemplifies the creative spirit of our Collaborative SmartSpace,” said WKU Innovation Campus CEO Buddy Steen. “His focus on bringing the stories, the music, and the art of our diverse communities in the region to new audiences in an authentic way – by deeply partnering with those communities – is a vibrant representation of the ethos of the ecosystem we are building.”

Thanks to those connections, Pearley is now sharing folk stories with audiences around the globe, and helping link communities with the resources they need. His work can be seen through his African American Folklorist magazine, his regular segment of the same name on WKU Public Radio and his Jack Dappa Blues online archive, as well as various planned additional platforms.

“The most significant aspect of the WKU Innovation Campus is you have experts in multiple fields who can come together,” Pearley said. “And that's really the only way you can get something done, truthfully.”

About WKU Innovation Campus: The WKU Innovation Campus is an applied research and intellectual hub that spurs innovative collaboration, promotes problem-solving and nurtures talent to elevate the economy and region. Through real-world applications and entrepreneurial support, the Innovation Campus engages and connects researchers, students and start-ups with corporations, industry leaders and local businesses to tackle challenges and foster a talent-first strategy to meet the needs of the region’s growing industries.

Contact: Jennifer Brislin, (502) 753-9766; or Sam Ford, (270) 535-2631