ATTENTION: City Desks

23 April 2002
Contact: Janet Gilmore, Media Relations
(510) 642-5685

WHAT:
"Hip-Hop and Beyond," the first-ever academic conference at the University of California, Berkeley, to examine hip-hop from various cultural, social and historical perspectives. The popular culture of many of the nation's youth, hip-hop is characterized by rap music, break dancing and graffiti art. Its influence has spread from big cities to suburbia to cities across the globe.

Scholars, along with performers, book authors, and music industry news reporters will discuss hip-hop in an academic context, drawing on such disciplines as anthropology, folklore, linguistics and history.

The event is being held by the university's African American Studies Department and is free and open to the public.

WHEN:
Panel discussions and keynote addresses are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, April 25, through Saturday, April 27. Live performances and film screenings will take place at nearby locations during breaks in the program.

WHERE:
Thursday - Bancroft Hotel conference room, 2680 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Friday - Pauley Ballroom, student union building, UC Berkeley
Saturday - UC Berkeley's Wheeler Auditorium.

For more information on the program schedule go to www.hiphopandbeyond.com.

WHO:
Among the participating academics, authors, music industry reporters and hip-hop performers are:
*Robert Farris Thompson, Yale University professor, art historian
*Leon Litwack, UC Berkeley history professor
*Derrick de Kerckhove, pop culture expert, director of the Marshall McLuhan Program at the University of Toronto
*Professor Griff and Chuck D., members of the hip-hop group "Public Enemy"
*Grand Wizzard Theodore, artist/performer, creator of scratching
*Mystic, Bay Area artist