AP/HUMA 3165 3.00

Griots to Emcees: Examining Culture, Performance & Spoken Word

Explores the form, function and content of Spoken Word, in terms of language, rhythm, historical developments, social- political contexts, as well as key artists of poetry, rap, dub, slam, lyricism and spoken word as live and direct purveyors of culture. By examining performance as text and artist/creator narratives, commentaries and cultural discourse, students survey the continuum through African storytelling traditions to contemporary global evolutions of lyricism and spoken word. Students explore the varied modes of oral/aural dissemination - including the stage, the page, audio recording, theatre, film and digital media - and analyze orality and voice as tools of cultural affirmation and resistance. The course includes a writing/performance intensive component.