Professor Steven Lessner in the Department of English was interviewed about his research in hip hop and his creation and development of a first-year writing pedagogy using this musical genre on 89.3 FM WSOE, broadcast live on Oct. 16, 2014.
His interview focused on how he uses hip hop to teach English 100: Supplemental Writing Workshop, English 110 Writing: Argument and Inquiry, and Core 110: The Global Experience at Elon University.
Lessner shared with hosts Spano and Afro G that Hip Hop allows definitions of ‘intellectual’ and ‘writer’ to be revised and expanded and include diverse voices and experiences that are often unfairly not included in these categories. Lessner commented on a set list of hip hop songs he had provided that were played and what teaching goals he had for these when used in class which included highlighting invention writing techniques of rappers, as well as their critical analyses of race and class.
Lessner pointed out that the theoretical construct of the “organic intellectual” drives how he teaches and the hip hop artists he studies with students which include Tupac Shakur, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, and Pharoahe Monch (among others). Lessner further gave details about a current book project he is working on which draws on interviews he conducted with four African-American undergraduate male writers and how these young men helped him develop an organic intellectual writing pedagogy that invites and learns from African-American males’ writing and intellectual practices.