University of Arizona – College of Humanities
School of International Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Africana Studies Program
Africana Studies Small Grants Opportunity
"Hip-Hop Based Education"
The UA Africana Studies Program invites applications for small grants to support the creation of undergraduate courses that have hip-hop content and/or apply hip-hop based education (HHBE).
In recent years, the field of HHBE has emerged, understood as “the use of hip-hop […] as curricular and pedagogical resources” (Irby and Hall 2013, 95). For example, “spray cans and graffiti can be used to teach about solutes and solvents in Chemistry, and microphones and speakers can be used to teach about sound waves in physics” (Emdin 2013, 21).
Hip-hop culture is a billion dollar industry that generates exceptionally large revenues and jobs in a wide array of markets worldwide (Charnas 2010, Watson 2004). There are marketing and textiles experts who sell and promote products to a hip-hop clientele, journalists who report on hip-hop, computer engineers who build samplers, lawyers who defend and negotiate contracts for artists and local entrepreneurs, social workers who mentor youth groups, dancers who open dance schools in their communities, psychologists who use art therapy, to only name a few of the professions connected to hip-hop. Consequently, there is no doubt that university students combining a major in Management, Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Chemistry, Psychology, Journalism, Physiology, Retailing and Consumer Sciences, Education, Sociology, etc., with the UA’s minor in Africana Studies with concentration in hip-hop cultures will be extremely knowledgeable and marketable in these specific industries.
References
Charnas, Dan. The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop. New York: New American Library, 2010.
Durand, Alain-Philippe. “The Wind Blows in Arizona: Representing the University of Arizona’s Minor in Hip-Hop Cultures.” Droppin Knowledge: Hip-Hop Pedagogy in the Academy. Eds. Charles Jones and Karin Stanford. Baltimore, MD: Black Classic Press, 2014. Forthcoming.
Emdin, Christopher. “The Rap Cypher, The Battle, and Reality Pedagogy. Developing Communication and Argumentation in Urban Science Education. Schooling Hip-Hop. Expanding Hip-Hop Based Education Across the Curriculum. Eds. Marc Lamont Hill and Emery Petchauer. New York: Teachers College, 2013. 11-27.
Irby, Decoteau J. and H. Bernard Hall. “Fresh Faces, New Places. Moving Beyond Teacher-Researcher Perspectives in Hip-Hop Based Education Research.” Schooling Hip-Hop. Expanding Hip-Hop Based Education Across the Curriculum. Eds. Marc Lamont Hill and Emery Petchauer. New York: Teachers College, 2013. 95-117.
Watson, Julie. “Rapper’s Delight: A billion Dollar Industry.” Forbes Magazine 18 Feb. 2004.
The Africana Studies Program is particularly interested in undergraduate courses in the STEM, Business, and Retails & Consumer Sciences disciplines that would include hip-hop. In addition, preference will be given to courses at the 300 level that are approved or that will be submitted for one of the following general education requirements: Tier 2 Arts, Humanities, Individuals and Societies, Natural Sciences. Online/hybrid courses are encouraged.
The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. on August 1, 2014.
All grants are competitive and based on resources available. Grants are up to $5,000 each.
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must be full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty at the University of Arizona.
Examples of expenses eligible for support from these grants:
- Sabbatical replacement funds;
- Summer/Winter salary or other types of supplemental compensation for faculty;
- Equipment such as computers, iPads, printers, software, digital cameras, samplers, microphones, etc.;
- Supplies and products for labs;
- Expenses for domestic travel (and to Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico) to conferences, workshops, archives, labs, performances, etc.;
- Expenses related to final projects, books, articles, chapters;
- Publication subventions;
- Hiring of graduate research assistants;
- Bring speakers on campus;
- Organize symposia and meetings on campus.
Examples of expenses NOT eligible for support from these grants:
- Scholarship/cash stipend through Bursar’s account
- Food and beverages
- Foreign Travel (outside of Mexico/Canada/Puerto Rico)
The funds will be transferred to the awardees’ departments.
ERE Rates:
For a $5,000 grant: a GAT ERE rate is 59.5%, so a GAT could receive a max of $3,135.
A faculty member’s ERE is 30%, the max they could get in salary would be $3,846.
REQUIREMENTS
- Endorsement from the applicant’s Department Head/Director;
- Candidate’s Department/Program’s written commitment to cross-list the course with Africana Studies (AFAS);
- Candidate’s Department/Program’s Head/Director written commitment to continue offering the course on a regular basis (at least once every other year).
Application
Please submit the required application materials by no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 1, 2014. All materials should be submitted as attachments to a single e-mail to Amanda Pitts (amp0712@email.arizona.edu). Questions about the program or the application can be directed to Prof. A-P Durand, Interim Director of Africana Studies (adurand@email.arizona.edu).
Notification
Awardees will be notified approximately four weeks after the deadline. Grants funds must be used by July 1, 2015.
EACH APPLICANT MUST PROVIDE:
1) A detailed sample syllabus, including description and learning outcomes and general education criteria (if applicable), of the proposed undergraduate course;
2) A detailed budget (approved by Business Manager);
3) A short CV (maximum 5 pages) that highlights teaching, research, and service applicable to the new course;
4) The following signed statement by the Department Head/Director on official department’s/program’s/college’s letterhead:
I endorse the enclosed proposal, my department commits to schedule this course on a regular basis (at least once every other year) and to cross-list it in Africana Studies (AFAS).
Name: __________________________________
Title: ___________________________________
Department: _____________________________
Signature: _______________________________ Date: __________________