Dr. Andrea Hunt [Hip-hop education, community service]

Hip Hop Can Save America

On this episode, we return to the hip-hop education space, as I talk with Dr. Andrea Hunt.

Dr. Hunt developed and teaches a Sociology of Hip-Hop Culture course at the University of North Alabama, and while she is very much involved with the regional hip-hop community, what I really like about her course and her work, is that she is bringing hip-hop into a school with a predominantly white student body -- and in a quote unquote “red state” to boot.

Of course, we’ve seen educators using hip-hop in urban and predominant minority settings with great success, but I was curious to hear about Dr. Hunt’s experience merging hip-hop studies in this setting. And as I mentioned, Dr. Hunt also does a great job at extending her connection to hip-hop way past the walls of her classroom, using the culture and associated artform to improve lives in the communities where it’s needed most.

All in all, I think you’ll be as inspired as I was to hear how she is using hip-hop to inform and inspire folks from all walks of life, in ways that I think can help contribute to an increase in cross-cultural understanding, and help repair some of the damage that has been done to our collective social fabric.