Kyara Mejia, Staff Writer

Hey Ya! Armstrong State University has added a new course to the Spring 2017 class list. “OutKast and the Rise of the Hip-Hop South” will be taught by Dr. Regina Bradley Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11–12:15 p.m.

Dr. Regina Bradley is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at ASU. Currently, she is teaching Literature and the Humanities, Survey of African American Literature and Black Women Writers.

Bradley believes that educational institutions need more contemporary renderings of the South.

“We’re stuck in outdated approaches and discussions of what is and what isn’t southern. I think it is important for students, both native and non-native southerners, to understand and study how the South has changed in the last 50 years,” she said.

Since OutKast was the first Southern group to be nationally recognized as a hip-hop group, Bradley believes that they are a great example for exploring Post-Civil Rights Southern Black aesthetics. Her objective is to engage students to think about how hip-hop has influenced society’s understanding of black culture, lives and identity in the South after the Civil Rights Movement.

“I wanted to teach this class on OutKast and southern hip-hop. [. . .] It is a chance to test out my theories in the classroom. Pedagogy is my favorite experimental space,” she explained.

Along with teaching a class on Hip-Hop, Bradley is writing her first book titled “Chronicling Stankonia: OutKast and the Rise of the Hip-Hop South.”  

The course is currently full. However, if the course is well-received Dr. Bradley predicts the class will be offered again. Students can add themselves to the class waitlist through their SHIP account.