Grad music students learn from innovative resource
Lakeland University opened its summer graduate music program with a visit from an innovative music maker.
Lakeland offered a workshop featuring the Hip-Hop Xpress and a course on hip-hop pedagogy, where educators learned about hip-hop music and culture, sampling and beatmaking, freestyling and lyric writing and instructing and aiding course participants in creating and performing their original music. They also discussed how the music is a natural fit for engineering, science and technology and entrepreneurship.
The bus provides a “wow” factor which organizers say they see it on the faces of children in every neighborhood they pull into. Inside the bus there is a full workshop, DJ station, laptops and a sound recording studio. You will also find remote-controlled race cars and drones.
This innovative mobile learning lab tours the country serving students and educators.
“This program is yet another example of how Lakeland is bringing in experts and leaders to put the liberal arts into action for our students and community,” said Rachel Ware Carlton, DMA, dean of Lakeland’s Kellett School of Undergraduate & Graduate Studies.
“This year, we’ve already hosted entrepreneur and Culver’s founder Craig Culver, Broadway star Jackie Burns and now this program. Lakeland continually offers significant opportunities for our community.”
The hip-hop course was taught by William Patterson, Ph.D. and Adam Kruse, Ph.D., faculty members at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Their Hip-Hop Xpress project has been awarded grants from the University’s Presidential Initiative to Celebrate the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities; the Student Sustainability Committee; and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’s Call to Action to Address Racism and Social Injustice. This project also earned the 2021 Campus Excellence in Public Engagement award.
Lakeland’s music program continues to bring a diverse array of resources to the community. From Broadway professionals and world-class performers to instructional leaders, the program offers a wide variety of learning opportunities.
For more information about partnering with these initiatives, contact Rachel Ware Carlton at 920-565-1000 ext. 3103 or CarltonRJ@lakeland.edu.
