Apr 6, 2021 2 min read

Harvard professor Dr. Cornel West will join author and cultural critic Jeff Chang as the featured speakers at California University of Pennsylvania’s 15th Hip-hop Conference, which will take place virtually April 13 and April 15.

West and Chang will present, “Hip-hop, Social Justice, Politics and the Pandemic” at 6 p.m. April 13. Visit calu.zoom.us/j/93794858647 to join the webinar, which will be moderated by Dr. Ayanna Walker, associate professor and director of Cal U.’s Frederick Douglass Institute.

At 6 p.m. on April 15, a panel of experts will consider “What’s Next for Hip-hop – Artistically and Academically?” Visit calu.zoom.us/j/94138717578 to join the webinar, which will be moderated by Dr. Kelton Edmonds, director of African American Studies at Cal U., and creator of the hip-hop conference.

Presenters will be MyFavoriteColor, a national recording artist who attended Cal U.; Bryon Turman, professor of hip-hop studies at North Carolina A&T; Dr. Jessica Spradley, a sociology instructor at Cal U.; and Dr. Wil Boone, professor of Black studies at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina.

“The annual conference allows speakers and audiences to evaluate the evolving artistry and multi-layered impact of hip-hop, which was born in the Bronx and rapidly emerged into a global phenomenon,” Edmonds said.