THE SCIENCE OF HIP HOP: Exploring STEM through BEATS and LYRICS – @TXST on October 21st [CLICK FOR RECAP VIDEO]

 

History and Overview. The School of Social Work at Texas State University (TXST) has worked extensively in partnership with the TXST Upward Bound Program and other partners to increase STEM/CS (STEM including Computer Science) engagement and interest among high school students. Opportunities include innovative learning experiences shaped by the STEM-B.E.A.T.S. (Building Excellence in Academics and Transitions to Success) model that centers around four key areas of STEM/CS with the recognition that Computer Science is integrated throughout. Students participate in immersive workshops on the Texas State University Campus to explore the latest in science, technology, engineering, and math but through the lens of Hip Hop culture. All five elements of Hip Hop culture are emphasized including emceeing, deejaying and production, graffiti/writing, breaking, and knowledge of self, allowing engagement with the full spectrum of creative arts and social emotional learning. Students also have immediate access to discovery, learning, and creating with music and digital technology in the on-campus music studio and makerspace, while focusing in-depth on STEM themes during each workshop. The model is designed to couple STEM/CS-based learning objectives with music and cultural interests while also providing ample opportunities for students’ creative expression. STEM/CS success is believed to be fostered through creative problem solving and self-expression within science, technology, engineering, and math, as discrete, yet overlapping disciplines (see below).

The Science of Hip Hop. This one-day event in partnership with Young Women in Bio brings these separate exciting workshops together into one dynamic collection of immersive experiences. Participants can engage workshops consecutively allowing a cumulative, scaffolded, and integrated experience. Each immersive room/workshop/museum is discrete in many ways (i.e., unique exhibits, activities, and hands-on experiences) but is also connected through shared topical tracks (e.g., Mental Health and Sustainability) that span multiple rooms. For example, there is at least one Mental Health related interactive exhibit in the Math and Science Rooms, but in the Math room the exhibit leverages the intersections of Math, Hip Hop culture, and Mental Health. In the Science room the exhibit leverages the intersections of Science, Hip Hop culture, and Mental Health. Aside from the four discrete yet overlapping STEM/CS rooms, there is also a main shared area for participants at the end with opportunities to help frame and synthesize the overall program, specific rooms, exhibits, and thematic tracks. Throughout the rooms, large visuals are used to graphically portray concepts, themes, and connections, a portfolio is provided (physical and digital) with resources and information about the day’s activities and direction for further learning/exploration, and cultural and global connections are continuously made. Each space provides opportunities for students to explore, reflect, build community with other participants, and reach their own conclusions about engaging STEM/CS through Hip Hop culture.

Introducing you to the CREATE Lab Studio (also called The Sound Lab)!

-WATCH HERE-

 

SONGSHARE WITH THE SENSES PROJECT @ SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

Learn more about Syracuse’s SENSES Project!

WE ARE EXCITED TO JOIN EVERYONE FOR HOMECOMING 2021

 

THE SUMMER, THE STUDIO, AND SOME LUNCHTIME VIBES

Welcome back. The CREATE Research Lab is back in effect with many activities, many opportunities, but the same passion for exploring how music impacts our lives and helps us and our communities to be at their best!

We had an exciting summer with two incredibly successful projects. 1st was the World Mixtape Tour which literally had us globe-trotting with stops in Latin America, South Africa, the UK, India, Australia, and Hawaii. We saw and heard the best in Hip Hop culture and saw the universal healing power of Hip Hop for individual empowerment but also attention to equity and justice at the community level. These themes were universal across geographies as were themes recognizing the common societal effects of colonialism and resilience in our global history. Our students and CREATE Lab team got to speak to amazing Hip Hop cultural ambassadors real-time from around the globe. We are so fortunate for our visiting ambassadors, artists, researchers, and just all around dope people, including Paul Flores, Emile YX?, Kiz Bangerh, and Dr. Alex Crooke.

Our second amazing project was the 3rd Annual Mixtape Camp, co-facilitated by the one and only Dr. Ian Levy. We continue to look at new creative approaches to student exploration of self and others through music creation. This year we continued our popular collaborative model that guides students through creating beats and lyrics toward a collective musical piece while listen, watch, and discuss music through and empowerment lens. This allows them a powerful process of simultaneous reflecting, analyzing, process, and creating through a lens of empowerment. We also added another type of mixtape creating process where students compiled, sequenced, and added effects to existing songs that were meaningful to them. This more solo exercise was meant to help them curate songs that could be empowering in an even more personal and unique way… plus the functional skill-building and potentially regulating effects of the detail work needed to complete the project within a digital music platform (DAW).

This Fall we are launching Lunch Vibes, a slight update to last years popular Lunch and Chill Series. It will be the same two hour format, but the first hour will have a curated mix with a theme and the second hour will be “just good music.” Both hours will have roughly 10-15 minutes at the end to allow discussion or reactions to the music. Join us!

NEXT LUNCH VIBES: 9/22 @ 12!

We also have a very exciting project in the works but cannot share the details just yet! Stay tuned!

Our Last Tour Stop… Hawai’i! Latin America, South Africa, Australia, UK, India. What a Summer of Learning & Growth!

Next up is the 3rd Annual Mixtape Camp with Dr. Ian Levy. Let’s Go!

SEE YOU IN AUGUST!

The Lunch and Chill Series is a series of Creative Events hosted by the CREATE Research Lab. It features a rotating series of music and art events (currently via Zoom due to COVID protocols), including Mix Sets, Artist Forums, and Artist Showcases. 

The Artist Forum is an opportunity for cross-pollination and collaboration among creatives and art enthusiasts. Creatives have the chance to present their current projects, from all artistic backgrounds or majors, to receive feedback from other artists and the general audience, and hopefully find new inspiration and collaborators along the way.

Slots are limited but all participants are welcome to plug their projects or related resources in the chat, or participate in the next Artist Forum at the end of April (4/29).

WE’LL BE BACK IN THE FALL SEMESTER!