Kwame Harrison
Associate Professor
Joined Virginia Tech: 2002
| Bachelor's (Anthropology) | University of Massachusetts at Amherst |
| Master's (Anthropology) | Syracuse University |
| Doctorate (Anthropology) | Syracuse University |
CURRENT PROJECT:
I am currently working on a series of publications coming out of an ethnographic research project on independent hip hop in the San Francisco Bay Area. These primarily focus on issues on identity, musical authenticity, and the production of culture.
TEACHING INTERESTS:
Cultural Sociology
Anthropology
Africana Studies
Music & Society
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Music Scenes
The Production of Culture
The Politics of Identity
Globalization
Qualitative Research Methods and Ethnographic Representation
SELECTED AWARDS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Associate Editor, Journal of Popular Music Studies 2009-
Diversity Award (co-recipient with Dr. April Few), College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Virginia Tech 2008
Virginia Tech Scholar of the Week (week of March 3rd) 2008
Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech 2007
Doctoral Prize, Syracuse University Graduate School 2004
Outstanding Dissertation Award, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, 2004
Women and Minority Artists Lecture Series Grant (w/ Deb Sims), VPI & SU, 2003
ABD Fellow, VPI & SU, 2002-3
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS:
Book
Hip Hop Underground: The Integrity and Ethics of Racial Identification (Philadelphia PA: Temple University Press, 2009).
Chapters in Edited Volumes
“Multiracial Youth Scenes and the Dynamics of Race: New Approaches to Racialization within the Bay Area Hip Hop Underground.” Pp. 201-19 in Twenty-First Century Colorlines: Multiracial Change in Contemporary America. Edited by Andrew Grant-Thomas and Gary Orfield (Philadelphia PA: Temple University Press, 2008).
“Authenticity and Hip Hop: Is It Essential To Be Black?” Pp. 57-65 in Readings in Sociology. Edited byMichael Hughes and John Ryan (McGraw-Hill, 2003).
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
“Racial Authenticity in Rap Music and Hip Hop.” Sociology Compass 2, no. 6 (2008): 1783-1800.
“'Cheaper than a CD, Plus We Really Mean It': Bay Area Underground Hip Hop Tapes as Subcultural Artefacts.” Popular Music Volume 25, Issue 2. (2006)
Presentations
Emcee Authenticity and Post-Colonial Consciousness within Filipino Hip-Hop. Presented at the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) – US Branch Conference in San Diego, CA (May 2009).
Subcultural Ethnography in a Computer Mediated Communication Era. Presented at the American Anthropological Association’s 107th Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA (November 2008).
Tragedy at Virginia Tech: Music and the Social Construction of Trauma. Presented at the International Association for Study of Popular Music (IASPM) – US Branch Conference in Iowa City, IA (April 2008).
Integrating White Dominant Social Spaces: the Case of Black Skiing. Presented at the American Anthropological Association’s 106th Annual Conference in Washington DC (November 2007).
World Music Festivals: Ethnic Authentication and Racial Administration. Presented at the International Association for Study of Popular Music (IASPM) – US and Canada Joint Branch Conference in Boston, MA (April 2007).
"Identity, Local Music Scenes, and Translocal Reputation: The Bay Area as Underground Hip Hop Mecca." Presented at the Popular Culture in the Local Conference (sponsored by Popular Culture Niagara), Brock Univsersity, St. Catharines, ON. (2006)
"‘Rockin Off-Beat with a Smile’: Innovation, Experimentalism, and Identity in West Coast Underground Hip Hop." Presented at the Southern Sociological Society’s 68th Annual Meetings in Charlotte, NC. (2005)
"The Production of Localized Subcultures: Genre-Fluidity Among Folk Musicians." Presented at the International Association for the Study of Popular Music – U.S. Meetings in Charlottesville, VA. (2004)
"Concerned about a Multiracial Hip Hop Nation: Applying a Black Studies Paradigm to Issues of Cultural Appropriation." Presented at the African Heritage Studies Association Annual Meetings in Roanoke, VA. (2004)
"Real Niggaz, Cracker Rap, and Filipinos with Perms: The Situational Racialization of Identities within a ‘Colorblind’ Hip Hop World." Presented at the Harvard Civil Rights Project’s Color Lines Conference: Segregation and Integration in America’s Present and Future. (2003)
“Got Tapes?”: The Transmission and Reception of Independent Hip Hop Via Audiocassettes. Presented at the American Anthropological Association’s 101st Annual Conference in New Orleans. (2002)