Professor Lauren McLeod Cramer is an Assistant Professor in the Cinema Studies Institute. Researching the aesthetics of blackness and popular culture, her published writing explores a wide variety of “art objects” including WorldStarHipHop.com, the videos from Jay-Z’s 4:44, Peter Eisenman’s architectural designs, and Meghan Markle’s wedding. Professor Cramer brings this eclectic archive into each of her classes, where her approach to content (“She literally changed the way I see images”); her emphasis on methodological and meta-pedagogical dimensions of course work and assignment design (“She taught us how to learn better”); and her gift for calling students and colleagues into the project of making the university a welcoming space (“She has rewarded her students and community with so much”) has already had a significant impact on the pedagogical culture of the Cinema Studies Institute and beyond. Colleagues describe her as singularly gifted and inspiring pedagogue while students call her teaching “transformative.” Professor Cramer’s innovative classes are matched by her critical contributions to pedagogical theory, which include “Spectacles of Anti-Black Violence and Contemporary Black Horror” a dossier on teaching in the face of anti-Black violence and “Parallel Praxes,” a learning experiment awarded funding by the Global Classrooms Initiative. Beyond the classroom, Professor Cramer shares cinema studies with her community by volunteering for the Imani Academic Mentorship Program, mentoring aspiring filmmakers in the REFRAME program, and celebrating Black History Month with the Raptors/Hackergirl. Professor Cramer might be “in a class by herself,” but through her tireless efforts changing what we teach, how we teach, and who we reach, she has proven that excellence is a question of building bridges, fostering conversation and sharing opportunities.