SS-370 Hip Hop Culture

3 Credits

Hip Hop is one of the most influential cultural movements of the past 30 years, yet its origins are relatively humble. Drawing upon historical, sociological and philosophical writings, as well as music and film, we will examine this phenomenon’s unlikely rise to global recognition. Topics of investigation would include: Hip Hop vs. Rap; popular culture vs. mass culture; regionalism and mobility; the civic value of art; race and gender in artistic expression; the politics of provocation; and deliberative democracy.