Hip Hop, Poetics, & Politics

A critical exploration into the roots, development, and enduring impact of Hip-Hop for people across the globe. Hip-Hop, as both politicized art form and sociocultural movement, can expose common-sense ideas and practices central to racism, sexism, homophobia, settler-colonialism, and systemic poverty. Upon surveying a critical history of how and why Hip-Hop emerged fifty years ago, we will explore how Hip-Hop lends marginalized communities a voice to express a politics of radical, youth empowerment.

Learning Outcomes in this course

• Define key concepts, contexts, and scholarship in Hip Hop Studies and Ethnic Studies.

• Examine the historical development of Hip Hop cultures.

• Evaluate the cultural and musical impacts of Hip Hop in the United States and across the world.

• Identify key arguments and scholarly approaches to various issues raised in Hip Hop Studies.

• Apply critical media literacy to engage and contribute to the movement of Hip Hop culture.

Proposed Activities

TBD

Instructor

Dr. Jorge Moraga, Assistant Professor Cal Poly SLO

Dr. Jorge Moraga is the proud son of two selfless, loving Salvadoran immigrants who have called the San Fernando Valley home since the early 1980s. His parents’ tireless support and encouragement sustained each of their children to become first-generation college graduates; while the last of his siblings to obtain B.A. degrees in 2012, he became the first in his family to earn a graduate degree in 2017 when he received his Ph.D. in American Studies from Washington State University. Dr. Moraga’s primary research and teaching interests include Latina/o/x studies, sociology of sport, cultural studies, sport media, critical diversity studies, and global neoliberalism. At Cal Poly, he teaches ES 112: Race, Culture, & Politics in the United States, ES 255: Introduction to Latinx/a/o Studies, and is excited to develop/teach upper division courses in Latinx popular culture, critical sport studies, and Hip-Hop studies.