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Unit 1
(3 Sessions) |
Introduction and Overview |
Unit 2
(2 Sessions) |
Dance
How is dance "central" to hip hop culture? How is it marginalized? What kinds of dances do hedz do? How have hip hop dances changed over time? Where are the sources of dance in hip hop? A consideration of capoiera and early African American dance forms. |
Unit 3
(2 Sessions) |
Graffiti, Fashion, and Visual Culture
How have fashion and graffiti been important to hip hop style? How did graffiti grow up? How did baggy pants and dookie chains become popular? Has flossing always been a part of hip hop? Are there boundaries to gender representations in hip hop fashion or visual culture? |
Unit 4
(2 Sessions) |
Sex and Sexuality
Is hip hop obsessed with depictions of sex and sexuality? What kinds of depictions are most prevalent? What depictions are resisted by hedz, and why? How do sex and sexuality feed hip hop into world markets? |
Unit 5
(2 Sessions) |
Misogyny
Why does misogyny occupy such a large part of the hip hop imaginary? How might sexual role-playing be healthy or hurtful to young people in various contexts? Is misogyny inevitable in the construction of popular culture? Is misogyny inseparable from hip hop?
Final Paper Proposals Due
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Visiting Guest Artist to be Announced |
Unit 6
(2 Sessions) |
Feminist Hip Hop |
Unit 7
(2 Sessions) |
DJ'ing, Musicality, Live Performance |
Unit 8
(2 Sessions) |
Electronica, Technology, Mediated Performance
What are the implications of mediated artifacts on the musical world of hip hop? What genres of electronic music does hip hop embrace? How does science fiction figure into the hip hop "real?" What effects do technology inspire in hip hop? A consideration of Afro-futurism. |
Unit 9
(2 Sessions) |
Anarchy and Activism
Hip Hop has long been figured as the "CNN of the Streets," able to incite action and progressive change. But gangsta strains of hip hop seem to incite anarchy as much as activism. Are activism and anarchy two sides of the same coin? Can they be successfully combined in popular music for progressive social action? |
Unit 10
(2 Sessions) |
Consumerism, Commodity Fetishism, Globalization
How important is consumption to hip hop culture? How is the global reach of hip hop related to commodities and exchange? How has hip hop changed as it has attracted a global audience and inspired a global marketplace? |
Unit 11
(1 Session) |
Whiteness and Hip Hop
Within an American context, what are some of the ways that white youth respond to hip hop? How is "whiteness" embedded in the construction of hip hop? What are the particularly American wages of racial segregation in terms of popular culture, and especially hip hop? |
Unit 12
(2 Sessions) |
Journalism, Criticism, Autobiography, "Realness"
The hip hop "real" has long been constructed by journalists reporting on artists for a voracious public. How do criticism and journalism feed hip hop? Is the relationship between journalists and artists necessarily parasitic? How important is autobiography to the construction of popular mythologies? |
| Final Session |
For Further Study — Wrap Up and Review
Compile Annotated Bibliographic Snapshot - Suggestions for [Academic] Interventions |
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