In 2023, publications and institutions across the globe celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop. While many lauded the trajectory of the music—from back-to-school jams in the Bronx to a multibillion dollar industry—less attention was paid to where Hip Hop is headed now. Likewise, in academia, Hip Hop Studies has flourished, and we are now at the 30th anniversary of Tricia Rose’s Black Noise, which inaugurated it as a field for academic inquiry. And it is also necessary to look forward in that endeavor.
The Department of African & African American Studies and the Hiphop Archive & Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research have invited a small group of leading thinkers in the field for a one-day symposium about the future of Hip Hop Studies. Each of the four scholars will present a lecture on their own work and how it fits into new directions and critical concerns in the study of Hip Hop as a branch of popular music studies and Black popular culture studies. To conclude, Tricia Rose will deliver a “50 Year Reflection” on the state of the field of which she is a foundational figure.
Livestream (Morning Session / 9:45am-1pm)
Livestream (Afternoon Session / 2pm-6pm)
SCHEDULE
9-9:45am / Breakfast reception
9:45-10am / Welcome remarks
10-11:30am / H. Samy Alim lecture and questions
11:30am-1pm / Adam Bradley lecture and questions
1-2pm / Lunch break
2-3:30pm / Regina Bradley lecture and questions
3:30-5pm / Mark Anthony Neal lecture and questions
5-6pm / Tricia Rose reflections & additional discussion
PARTICIPANTS
David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair in the Social Sciences and Professor of Anthropology
Associate Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
Faculty Co-Director of the UCLA Hip Hop Initiative
Co-editor (with Jeff Chang), University of California Press Hip Hop Studies Book Series
University of California-Los Angeles
Professor of English & African American Studies
Founding Director, Laboratory for Race and Popular Culture (RAP Lab)
University of California-Los Angeles
Associate Professor of English and African Diaspora Studies
Faculty Editor, Southern Cultures Journal
Kennesaw State University
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies; Chair, Department of African & African American Studies; Professor, English; Professor, Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies
Director, Center for Arts, Digital Culture & Entrepreneurship (CADCE)
Duke University
Chancellor's Professor of Africana Studies
Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives
Director, The Systemic Racism Project at the John Nicolas Center for Advanced Study
Brown University
LOCATION:Gutman Conference Center | 6 Appian Way, Cambridge STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20250206T140000Z DTEND:20250206T230000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR