According to this release from the University of Arizona, they’re actually the first school in the country to offer a hip-hop minor.
No, really.
While some might think hip-hop isn’t suitable for serious study, Alain-Philippe Durand, director of Africana Studies, disagrees. For decades, scholars have trained their academic eyes on the music, fashion, street art and dance that express a now global cultural phenomenon. They don’t study hip-hop for its catchy beats. They study it because it’s a river that roars through societies, shaping their cultural and political landscapes as it goes.
For students, that powerful force translates into serious questions. They may analyze the visual symbols in a graffiti mural, but they’re also challenged to think about graffiti in the context of German sociologist Jurgen Habermas’ ideas of public space as a social construct, Durand explains. They may unpack the lyrics of a familiar Jay-Z song, but they also have to consider how religious, ethnic and national identity overlap in the multi-lingual rap “Hamdulillah” (roughly translated from Arabic as “Praise to God”).
For UA undergraduate Gabrielle-Ann Araneta Torres, one of the most memorable assignments from her U.S. and Francophone Hip-Hop Cultures class was critical analysis of movies. “There were some obscure film choices,” she says, “but also some popular ones, like ‘Scarface.’ Looking at hip-hop from an analytic lens was new to me, and I definitely had to reach beyond my usual thought process while completing assignments.”
I’m surprised, really. Not because I think that hip-hop is unsuitable for study (honestly, it’s a grand evolution of music and poetry, in my opinion) but because I would have assumed that schools such as North Carolina Central University, which has featured classes taught by hip-hop producer 9th Wonder, would have been among the first to offer such an emphasis.
For more information, see the story by UA here, or take a look at the curriculum here.
[Edited to include omitted portion]
This article appears in Jan 3-9, 2013.
From the curriculum, “This minor not only embraces the students’ own cultural context and lived experiences…”
“…lived experiences…”
There it is, that’s the tell. Right there.
A minor with a concentration, as Dr. Bonnie Wasserman insists over there.
“Not because I think that hip-hop is unsuitable for study (honestly, it’s a grand evolution of music and poetry, in my opinion) but because I would have assumed that schools such as North Carolina Central University, which has featured classes taught by hip-hop producer 9th Wonder.”
I understand what you’re getting at, but this sentence is definitely incomplete.
I am so signing up for Biggie 101 this fall, EAZY A
Fixed. Thanks for that, AZ/DC.
You’re welcome Mr. Mendez.
Regards, DC
So are they going to study the vile, violent misogynistic lyrics of cRap music.
Interesting, where I moved from, when nightclubs opened, they all pledged not to play hip-hop.Even those owned by blacks.
Interesting too, that they apparently broke their promises and the nightclubs had so many problems they shut down or refused to approve their licenses.
Mr. Parker, not all rap music is vile, violent, or misogynistic. If one were to argue that, then one could argue that rock music is all about strippers, sex and Satan. Or hell, that R&B is about witchcraft and infidelity. Or that country music is about murder, substance abuse and theft.
We can trade examples all night. My iTunes library is champing at the bit.