The CREATE Research Lab, led by Dr. Raphael Travis, explores through research and practice how engaging with arts -especially Hip Hop culture- can facilitate healthy development, reduce depression and anxiety, and increase academic development.
On the research side, collaborations exist with partners in education, criminal justice, counseling, music therapy, and psychology to help better understand the relationships between creative art engagement and well-being.
On the practice side, collaborations exist with a variety of teaching-artists including emcees, singers, producers, beat-makers, and deejays. Five distinct but overlapping dimensions of empowerment anchor practice strategies to improve well-being: esteem, resilience, growth, community, and change.
Different workshops and activities focus on one or more of these dimensions in pursuit of academic, social, and emotional development goals. Whether it is creating, analyzing, or recontextualizing… and whether it is doing so using images, beats, hooks, or lyrics… a variety of workshops, activities, and projects bring these ideas to life. Academic Saturdays, Mixtape Camp, STEM-BEATS Camp, the Science of Hip Hop, and the Hip Hop’s Next 50 Conference are a few of the exciting events that we helped to develop, curate, and facilitate. We are always looking to contribute to meaningful, exciting, and impactful events.
Upcoming collaborative events for Spring and Summer 2024 include Studio Open Houses and Tours such as with the Doral Academy Charter School (February) and our ongoing partnership with TXST Hip Hop Congress as a location for creative projects and planning meetings. Also coming soon:
(1) The ACCEYSS/ Counter-Life Herstories Conference [March]. The annual Counter-Life Herstories Conference shares women of color’s narratives in a live, TEDx-style format with girls of color in grades 5-12 in Central Texas. The purpose of this conference is to build an interdisciplinary team of education researchers, policymakers, and high-tech leaders in Central Texas to explore opportunities to investigate women’s diverse experiences in the STEM+Computing workforce in Central Texas.
(2) STEM-BEATS Camp [June]. The STEM-BEATS Camp provides opportunities for innovative hands-on learning experiences shaped by the STEM-BEATS curriculum that centers around the four key areas of STEM. Students participate in five immersive days on the Texas State University Campus using technology and music equipment, and also enjoying interactive activities in the style of a pop-up museum. Students both create and discover to learn, grow, and express with the help of music and music technology. The curriculum is designed to couple STEM-based learning objectives with students’ creative expression with beat-making, lyric writing, and video creation. STEM success is also fostered through creative problem solving activities within science, technology, engineering, and math themes, recognizing them as both discrete and overlapping domains.
We work with partners like the Texas State University TRIO Programs to help youth increase their academic, social, and emotional well-being over the life-course. The Sound Lab (Music Studio) is a key part of this work, again, providing hands on opportunities for students of all ages to learn, grow, and express themselves. A unique music-integrated model guides these opportunities for innovative ways of learning and healthy development, including mental health.