Would You Take A College Course on Jay-Z? I Would!

I almost did a shout and jumped clean outta my seat after running across this Washington Post article announcing a new college course on Jay-Z.

Yes, you read that right. Next Fall, Georgetown University will be offering a course on the Sociology of Jay-Z. And what’s doubly cool is that the course will be taught by none other than critically acclaimed scholar Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. Dr. Dyson has written and published several books on hip hop, politics, religion, and even public figures of interest such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Tupac Shakur.

A Hip Hop College Course?

I’ll quote the words of Dr. Michael Eric Dyson: “We look at his incredible body of work, we look at his own understanding of his work, we look at others who reflect upon him, and then we ask the students to engage in critical analysis of Jay-Z himself.”

I’ve witnessed a lot of talk debating the merits of a college course like this, especially nowadays where an ongoing dialogue centers around the usefulness of college degrees, student loan debt, and gaining viable employment. I’ve seen a few people wryly remark that they *wish* they would send their child to college and spend thousands on tuition to take a “useless” course on Jay-Z.

Useless Course? I Think Not!

As a field of study, Sociology centers around social groups, societies, and institutions, such as race, crime, family, work, and government. If you’re not familiar with Jay’s musical catalog aside from a few radio singles, you’d miss the different themes engaged in his lyrics. It’s not like the course will be an exercise in memorizing the lyrics from Big Pimpin’. He engages a variety of topics discussed in academic texts and intellectual circles, such as crime in inner city America, materialism of American culture, race and social commentary, human suffering following Hurricane Katrina, societal beauty standards, and so forth. It is nearly impossible to dismiss the academic worthiness of the course based only on radio singles.

Now let’s also discuss academic worthiness. I can think of quite a few educational skills that can be developed from taking a course like this. Namely, critical thinking and analytical skills, which are on the MUST USE list throughout college and graduate school. Loads of intellectual value can be derived from thoughtful discussions and papers critiquing the lyrics and the historical/social/political context in which they were derived. These are certainly useful skills in the real world.

Also consider the fact that courses like these are instrumental in making academic knowledge relevant to a new generation. Academics are forever charged with being out of touch and not applying knowledge in a way that captures the upcoming generation’s attention. Well, um, hello. This course is an attempt at bucking the criticism and pushing the envelope on what is considered part of the canon of academic knowledge.

For the academic knowledge and intellectual skills alone, I would say this course, as well as many others on popular music artists or polarizing celebrity figures, are not only innovative, but engaging and useful. I seriously cannot think of a cooler way to develop the very skills that literally separate the intellectually strong, weak, and the obsolete.

Yes, I know that I just borrowed and remixed part of that last sentence from the Notorious B.I.G. Say what you want – it’s entirely appropriate in context.