January 16, 2015

SVSU hosts 'Feminism and Hip Hop' lecture and performance

The Saginaw Valley State University Department of Music will host a lecture titled, “Everyday Feminism and Hip Hop in Detroit" Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall.

The lecture features Oakland University professors Rebekah Farrugia and Kellie Hay; the program also includes a special performance by Detroit hip-hop artist, Nique LoveRhodes. The event is free and open to the public.

Farrugia is an associate professor of communication at Oakland University specializing in media studies. A large portion of her research focuses on digital culture and the interconnections between gender, technology and popular music.

Farrugia has been published in a vast array of both national and international journals ranging from Current Musicology and Feminist Media Studies, to Music & Politics, and Journal of Popular Music Studies. In 2012 she also published her own book titled, "Beyond the Dance Floor: Female DJs, Technology, and Electronic Dance Music," labeled "A path breaking study of the women who create electronic dance music." Farrugia completed a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Iowa.

Kellie Hay, also an associate professor of communication at Oakland University, specializes in critical cultural studies. Her work focuses on the ways groups use different cultural forms, such as music, dance, poetry and comics, to build alliances and forge social change. Hay has been published in various journals, including The Quarterly Journal of Speech, International Journal of Communication, Journal of American Culture and International and Intercultural Annual. She received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.

Nique LoveRhodes is an up-and-coming hip-hop artist from Detroit. Her debut album, "Against All Odds: The Epic," was released in 2012 and "combines smooth lyrical delivery with penetrating lyrical content." As an artist, Nique LoveRhodes has a passion to ignite positive change and provoke critical thinking, thus blurring the boundaries between hip-hop musician and social activist.

For more information about the lecture and performance, please contact the SVSU Department of Music at music@svsu.edu or (989) 964-4159.