dr. charity marsh

community

Flatland Scratch Seminar/Workshop Series

In the initial Flatland Scratch Series the emphasis was placed on rave culture, electronic dance music, and the role of the DJ with events being held over three evenings in the Winter 2005. Last year the Flatland Scratch Series II

focused primarily on hip-hop culture and the production and performance practices associated with the music of this genre.

During the final segment of the Flatland Scratch Series II

the new Interactive Media and Performance (IMP) Labs were launched at the University of Regina. As part of the celebrations Charity introduced themes of her new research program on popular music cultures in western and northern Canada, facilitated a roundtable discussion on hip-hop in Saskatchewan with 10 local hip-hop artists, and led tours of the new labs, which house a multi-media interactive DJ

studio and performance space, an electronic music and beat-making studio, an ethnomusicology field-research lab, and digital archives.

The launch of the IMP Labs and the Flatland

Scratch Series II concluded with performances

by Saskatchewan’s hip-hop artists Eekwol and

Mils with special guest Def3.

THE FLATLAND SCRATCH SERIES III

Workshops, seminars, and performances by local, national and international musicians, artists, and scholars related to the various elements of hip-hop culture (graffiti, break, rap, DJ and beat-making), current manifestations of global electronic dance music cultures (psy-trance, silent raves), technologies associated with music production and perfor-

mance, and the significance of music as a contemporary storytelling practice.

Scott Collegiate / IMP Hip Hop Project

The Hip Hop Project version 2 (HHPv2) is fifteen students in grade 10, spending their morning earning English and Arts Ed credits while learning about Hip Hop culture. The Hip Hop Project is offered through a partnership with the University of Regina and Saskatchewan In Motion. Two mornings a week, students work towards earning an Arts Education 20 credit at the Interactive Media and Performance studios at the U of R. Dr. Charity Marsh facilitates sessions with local Hip Hop DJs, graffiti artists, MCs, and B-Boys and B-Girls. In one of the studios outfitted with turntables, students learn the art of scratch. In the other studio, students learn how to use the MPC beat machine and computer software (Audible Live) to make music. In addition to the music side, Dr. Ann Kipling Brown from the University of Regina as well as her Education Dance students work with our students to learn about various forms of dance, and how dance can be used to enact social change. When not in the classroom, students are doing activities around the six strands of English Language Arts that relate to Hip Hop. They are reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and representing Hip Hop culture.

For more information check out the blog HERE.

CBC Student Newsday Project

Student News Day in Saskatchewan is an opportunity for young people to tell a story about an issue important to them, and for you to learn more about the stories that matter most to our province’s youth.

For more information on this project check out the blog HERE.