Hip Hop is continuing to find its way into curriculums across the country.
The latest Hip Hop-heavy course is titled “Politics of Kanye West: Black Genius and Sonic Aesthetics,” and will be taught at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
According to the professor for the course, who is also an associate professor in the African and African-American Studies and the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies departments, the ‘Ye-centric course will touch on “black genius and the impossibility of black genius for the American public.”
“I always wanted to teach a course looking at black genius and the impossibility of black genius for the American public,” Dr. Jeffrey McCune said while speaking with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We’re always thought of as maybe being articulate or smart but not really genius … Hip-hop is a way to show our creative genius. Kanye really uses hip-hop as a vehicle to display all of his talents, albeit some better than others.”
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Additionally, McCune plans to use his course as a tool “to get students to connect issues of politics, race, gender, sexuality and culture.”
According to the course syllabus, the 75 students currently enrolled in the course can expect to delve into topics that include, “I Love Kanye, or How Critique Slips Into Hate” and “Love Lock Down, or Hip-Hop’s Queer Love Languages.”
For the collegiate student of Hip Hop, this month brings news of several courses that take their cue from Hip Hop.
In early January, it was revealed that Armstrong State University in Savannah, Georgia would offer an “Outkast and the Rise of the Hip Hop South” course.
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In addition to the ‘Kast course at Armstrong, the topic of trap music will be taught as part of Georgia Tech’s new “Exploring the Lyrics of Outkast and Trap Music to Explore Politics of Social Justice” course.
