Annual Hip Hop Conference


2017 Circling the Elements Hip Hop Conference
: HIP HOP IN DIASPORA:
Call for Proposals

April 19 – 23, 2017

Albany State University

In the 1970s, DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican born man living in the Bronx, helped spark the birth of a new genre/culture:  Hip Hop.  Popularized by Black and Brown marginalized populations in the United States, Hip Hop is a genre and culture now known around the world.  From its early inception until now, Hip Hop has evolved into a culture and art form with its own Diaspora.  During this, our fifth annual conference, we will explore how Hip Hop has reached a global audience and undergirded a whole new worldview for the last thirty years.  This year, we will come to know Hip Hop in Diaspora.

The committee invites proposals/abstracts that:

  • Explore Hip Hop in various global locations
  • Discuss the role of the Hip Hop Diaspora in social activism
  • Use Diaspora as a concept to interrogate Hip Hop cultural demographics
  • Interrogate the role of Hip Hop in social justice movements
  • Provide discussions on the role of gender in Hip Hop communities practices
  • And more.

Each presenter will have 15-20 minutes for paper presentations or 45-minutes for round-table discussions and workshops on targeted issues or topics. Other formats (i.e., ethnodrama, performance, poetry, autoethnography, and fiction) are welcome as well. Artists are encouraged to send in proposals to be included in the concluding Hip Hop Showcase held on the final night of the conference. All proposals/abstracts should include your name, your institutional-affiliated contact information, including email address and phone number.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Hip Hop Emcee Talib Kweli. Mr. Kweli will open the conference up on Thursday, April 20, 2017.

Send 200-300 word abstract for papers, round tables, and other formats via email to:  circlingtheelements@asurams.edu to the attention of CTE STAFF.

Circling The Elements Logo

Picture of the Flier for the 10th Annual Hip Hop Conference