Georgetown Prof Teaches Jay-Z Course

He’s already a hip-hop superstar, a big-shot exec, and married to Beyonce; now, Jay-Z is also the subject of elite academic discourse. Georgetown students are flocking to a sociology course on hip-hop and Jay-Z’s rise, taught by author and radio host Michael Eric Dyson. “Sociology of Hip-Hop—Urban Theodicy of Jay-Z,” as the class is called, seeks “the intellectual, theological, philosophical predicate for Jay-Z’s argument.”

“This is not a class meant to sit around and go, ‘Oh man, those lyrics were dope,’” Dyson tells the Washington Post. “We’re dealing with everything that’s important in a sociology class: race, gender, ethnicity, class, economic inequality, social injustice.” While some parents are dubious as to the course content, Dyson suggests they visit the class to see what it’s all about. Jay-Z’s “body of work has proved to be powerful, effective, and influential. And it’s time to wrestle with it.” (More Jay-Z stories.)