Nov 14, 2024
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2019-20

AAS 3570 - Black Music Criticism: Hiphop history, culture and politics


Designed to engage scholars in a process of discovering and developing critical analytical skills within the context of Hip-hop history, culture, and politics. This course will explore Hip-hop culture as a manifestation of Africana visual, performance and oral traditions. It will explore Africana cultural practices that have given rise to the numerous manifestations of Hip-hop over its thirty-plus year history in the United States and abroad. Hip-hop has affected/infected all facets of popular culture from the classroom to the corporate boardroom. This course examines the development, contradictions and various representations of Hip-hop culture. This course is designed to increase students’ depth of knowledge of Hip-hop within the context of Africana cultural practices, the history and various positions about what Hip-hop is/is not and provide opportunities for dialogue and further study. Toward accomplishing the goal of investigating Hip-hop history, culture, and politics, film, various media texts and possibly guest lecturers will be used to facilitate this learning experience. Scholars will be expected to submit papers, complete oral reports, and participate in class projects for successful completion of this course.

Credit Hours: 3
Repeat/Retake Information: May be retaken two times excluding withdrawals, but only last course taken counts.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 lecture
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Learning Outcomes:
  • To locate rap music as a signifying practice.
  • To understand Hip-hop as a manifestation of Africana cultural practice.
  • To understand Hip-hop educational pedagogy and practice.
  • To understand intersections of gender, class, race, and consumption with Hip-hop culture and rap music.
  • To understand the political, economic, and social origins of Hip-hop Culture.


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