Faculty in Focus

Faculty in Focus: Celebrating Hip-Hop Culture and Scholarship

Bringing together academics and culture at the GRAMMY Museum

UCLA Alumni Diversity Programs & Initiatives partnered with the Laboratory for Race & Popular Culture (the RAP Lab) to host Faculty in Focus at the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. The event, held Oct. 19, brought Bruins and the local community together for a day of music, culture and learning.

Dr. Adam Bradley, known as UCLA’s "Professor of Hip-Hop," gave a lively presentation on hip-hop’s history and cultural impact. The event also featured performances by UCLA alumni and students. Guests explored exhibits like Hip-Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit and HYBE: We Believe in Music.

The event showcased UCLA’s commitment to diversity and cultural storytelling, leaving attendees with a greater appreciation for hip-hop’s past and future.

Faculty in Focus programs (formerly "Professors in the Pub") feature faculty sharing their scholarship and expertise on compelling subjects from a wide variety of disciplines. From philosophical inquiries, to socio-political analyses, innovative scientific discoveries, and cutting-edge manifestations of art and music, these discussions promise to spark curiosity and stimulate critical thinking. Whether you're a seasoned academic, a lifelong learner, or simply curious and seeking to explore new ideas, these programs provide a unique, alumni-centered opportunity to reconnect with the intellectual spirit of UCLA.

Past Programs

• Filipino Identity, Citizenship, and Cultural Belonging through the Experience of the Lumad Peoples in Mindanao with Oona Paredes, Ph.D. - Thursday, Feb. 27 in Los Angeles, CA
• Highlighting Pilipino Professors and Topics in honor of Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon '94, M.A. '97
• How Young Adults in the United States "Racial Middle" Imagine and Act Upon Race, Politics, and Civic Participation with Dr. Evelyn Rodriguez, Ph.D. - Thursday, March 5 in Stockton, CA
• Housing Justice in Los Angeles: Segregation, Gentrification, Displacement and the Impact of Social Movements with Ananya Roy, Ph.D. - February 2019
• Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in North America with Kyle Mays, Ph.D. - January 2019
• Juvenile Justice Reform in Hawaii, Minority Overrepresentation and the role of Engaged Scholarship in Institutional Change with Karen Umemoto, M.A. '89, Ph.D. - November 2018
• Professors in the Pub Fall 2018 Kick-off with Jozen Diaz, Ph.D. - October 2018
• L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown with Jan Reiff, Ph.D. - March 2018
• A Vietnamese Moses in Portugal with George Dutton, Ph.D. - February 2018
• Native Feminisms with Mishuana Goeman, Ph.D. - January 2018
• The History of UCLA with William Purdy, M.A. ’03, Ph.D. ’16 - February 2017
• Queer Cats, Queer Bilingual Poetry with Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Ph.D. - March 2017
• The Folklore of the Freeway with Eric Avila, Ph.D. - March 2017