Education

Georgetown Offers Jay-Z Class

Michael Eric Dyson's seminar has 140 students.

Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson is offering a seminar on Jay-Z this fall. “Sociology of Hip Hop: Jay-Z” meets at 9:30 a.m., with 140 students enrolled. Dyson said he wanted to take up a serious investigation of the rapper's art and craft. "Behind the billionaire sexiness of a pop-cultural icon,” he said, he will consider, “what the rhetorical and literary fuss is about.” He added that Jay-Z showed kids that a black person can have legitimate cultural and intellectual authority, and it "helped Barack Obama become president.” Dyson has texted Jay about the seminar and discussed the curriculum with him. “He was pretty amazed that students were taking this class seriously,” Dyson said.