In this vdo, Professor Christopher Emdin discusses the theories in his book, Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation. I’ve come across Hip-Hop in the classroom experiments before but this is the first time I’ve enjoyed listening to the proponents’ ideas. Have to hand it to them, this is some fine marketing, can’t stop the RapGenius hustle. I will be curious to see if this comes to fruition or if this is just the NYTimes playing first!
Read: A Hip-Hop Experiment
Next month, the two men, along with the popular hip-hop lyrics Web site Rap Genius, will announce a pilot project to use hip-hop to teach science in 10 New York City public schools. The pilot is small, but its architects’ goals are not modest. Dr. Emdin, who has written a book called “Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation,” hopes to change the way city teachers relate to minority students, drawing not just on hip-hop’s rhymes, but also on its social practices and values.
Rap Genius, which recently received a $15 million investment from the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, hopes to expand its site, where users annotate lyrics, into education. And GZA saw a potential hit: “You never know,” he said of their collaboration. “This could turn into something in the future as big as the spelling bee.”
