St. Louis’s Washington University is now offering a full class on Kanye West. How this is suppose to help students in the real world, I have the slightest idea. The class is called “Politics of Kanye West: Black Genius and Sonic Aesthetics.”
75 students are currently enrolled in the class. The professor of the class, Dr. Jeffrey McCune says the class will not step on Wests music but sees the artist as a “good way to get students to connect issues of politics, race, gender, sexuality and culture.” He says the idea has been in his head for a while.
“I always wanted to teach a course looking at black genius and the impossibility of black genius for the American public. We’re always thought of as maybe being articulate or smart but not really genius…Kanye really uses hip-hop as a vehicle to display all of his talents, albeit some better than others.”
On Tuesdays there will be lectures “critical listening parties,” with occasional guests artists on Thursday. The class will talk about,
• “Who is Kanye West and Why Is He in the Flashing Lights?”
• “Touch the Sky, When the Aspirant Turns Genius”
• “Father Stretch My Hands, or How Hip-Hop Takes Us to Church”
• “Love Lock Down, or Hip-Hop’s Queer Love Languages”
• “I Love Kanye, or How Critique Slips Into Hate”
Fairly interesting, I guess if youre that much into Kanye.
Source: Complex
