<p>Seminar, three hours. Study uses a comparative health humanities perspective on the art of hip hop, with focus on the specific themes of trauma, depression, melancholy, grief, eating disorders, and addiction. Exploration of health humanities methods and approaches that have developed in music studies in the past decade. Focus on textual and musical narratives of illness, vocal expression, and performance. Includes pedagogical strategies for hip hop as a form of therapy—an area of research with its own vast literature and history. Interpretation of music and poetry that relates to studied themes, drawing on comparative methods of literary analysis. Students learn to interpret songs from health humanities perspectives, and gain insight into how hip-hop artists shape narratives about illness through text and music. Comparison also of approaches in hip hop culture globally. P/NP or letter grading.</p>

Comparative Literature

College of Letters and Science

COM LIT 185 - Health Humanities Perspectives on Hip Hop

Health Humanities Perspectives on Hip Hop

Learn to interpret Hip Hop comparatively in a global context

Gain familiarity with classic and new hip hop, and with hip hop history 

Learn about the elements of Hip-Hop poetry: rhythm, rhymes, beats, scratching, wordplay, style storytelling, signifyin’, sampling, battling, production, flow, and representation

Learn about the role of Hip Hop in healing and recovery

Learn the health humanities methods and tools for analyzing and interpreting narratives of illness in a wide range of Hip Hop

Gain a greater appreciation for hip hop culture and the hip hop generation. 

Engage with current debates about analyzing specific narratives of trauma, depression, addiction, grief, and eating disrorders in popular music.

General Catalog

Health Humanities Perspectives on Hip Hop

COM LIT 185

4 units