In the spirit of recharging one’s glow and building momentum, we invite you join us for an afternoon of artistry, rejuvenation, and education.
April 18th 2:00pm-4:15pm
Ballrooms A & B-Cartersville Student Center
2:00pm-2:55pm—Soul Food Cypher– Interactive performance that uses audience participation to create freestyle raps. Whether you’re a seasoned wordsmith or just dabble in the art of freestyle, you’ll have a chance to flex your skills.
Soul Food Cypher utilizes the power of speech to transform the lives of individuals and their communities. We are an organization that showcases the positive aspects of rap through our cypher events, membership program, and community outreach. Our aim is to provide Atlanta’s lyricist (rappers) community with a safe and nurturing environment where their voice and artistry can grow. In addition, we look to solidify the art of freestyling as a genuine aesthetic to the wider artistic community and carry this rich tradition to the next generation.
3:00pm-4:15pm—Hip Hop, Grit, and Academic Success– Dr. Bettina Love
This impassioned talk explains how students who identify with Hip Hop culture have been ignored or deemed deficient in schools because of mainstream misconceptions associated with Hip Hop culture. Through Hip Hop, these students embody the characteristics of grit, social and emotional intelligence, and the act improvisation- all of which are proven to be predictors for academic success. So where is the break down between formalized education and the potential for success for these students? Dr. Love argues that ignoring students’ culture in the classroom is all but an oversight; it’s discrimination and injustice that plays out in our culture in very dangerous ways.
Dr. Love is an award-winning author and Associate Professor of Educational Theory and Practice at the University of Georgia. Her research focuses on the ways in which urban youth negotiate Hip Hop music and culture to form social, cultural, and political identities to create new and sustaining ways of thinking about urban education and social justice. Her research is focused on transforming urban classrooms through the use of non-traditional educational curricula and classroom structures.
This event has applicable learning outcomes across a number of academic areas, including history, education, art, communications, psychology, sociology, business, marketing, public relations, English, journalism, and more! Please consider bringing your class or offering extra credit for your students to attend this guest lecture, and extra credit sign-in sheets will be made available. This event also supports the academic mindset component of Complete College Georgia’s Momentum Year initiative.