How efforts to combine arts with STEM education could improve tech diversity
| Cambridge
The origins of hip-hop culture in New York City in the 1970s and '80s are often popularly linked with economic malaise 鈥� high crime rates, graffiti-lined subways, the seediness of Times Square 鈥� perhaps best encapsulated in the New York Daily News鈥� referring to the city鈥檚 chances for a federal bailout from the President: 鈥淔ord to City: Drop Dead.鈥�
But for black and Latino youth, the art forms that eventually became hip-hop 鈥� graffiti, breakdancing, DJing, and rapping 鈥� may have actually been an opportunity to combine art with concepts in science, math, and technology 鈥� in up from a sketchbook to a wall, or creating a DJ mixer capable of seamlessly transitioning from record to record 鈥� in a realm far outside the classroom.
Amid ongoing debates about the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley and on minority students studying computer science in high school and college, links between art and traditional STEM disciplines 鈥� such as the technological innovations of hip hop 鈥� aren鈥檛 always discussed, says Nettrice Gaskins, an artist and teacher at Boston Arts Academy, at an event on Tuesday at Harvard Law School.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a disconnect,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e find that this happens over and over again in groups that aren鈥檛 part of a lot of discourse around science, technology, engineering, and math but they鈥檙e doing these things anyway as part of their everyday life or their creative expression.鈥�
She first began examining what she terms 鈥渢echno-vernacular creativity,鈥� 鈥� or uses of technology by groups outside the mainstream 鈥� while researching as part of her dissertation on digital media at Georgia State University.
Now, she鈥檚 using her research to help a new generation of students find a passion for math and science as director of the STEAM Lab 鈥� which adds 鈥渁rt鈥� to science, technology, engineering, and math topics 鈥� at the public Boston Arts Academy, which serves about 40 percent black and 40 percent Latino students from neighborhoods across the city.
One theater student at the city鈥檚 sole arts-focused high school was struggling academically, she recalls. But he had long nurtured a passion for video games, which he was able to turn into an interest in video projection mapping 鈥� or using motion sensitive controllers and a computer to project multiple video images on a wall, which he used in a theater production performed last week.
Another dance student was working on an extra-credit project for a science class and approached Dr. Gaskins about using a聽, a circuit board that can be used to play music, to create an interactive dance floor using conductive paint that changed as she danced.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that these young people aren鈥檛 interested in these activities, it鈥檚 that they don鈥檛 see themselves, or some people like them, doing it,鈥� she says.
For students, being adaptable to change and keeping what Gaskins calls 鈥渁n entrepreneurial spirit鈥� is key, especially for students who want to go on to college but lack the resources to do so.
She cites the example of early hip-hop pioneers such as Grandmaster Flash, often credited with 鈥� now a standard feature on DJ mixers 鈥� by modifying an existing mixer with parts scrounged from a junkyard while he was still in his teens.
鈥淪ee, before this DJ thing, I was hopelessly taking things apart to try to figure out how they worked. I鈥檇 go mess around with burned-out cars, with my mom鈥檚 stereo 鈥� I was public enemy #1 in my house for that,鈥澛燝randmaster Flash in 2002. 鈥淪o my mom noticed that I was interested in this and decided to send me to school so I鈥檇 know what I was doing. So suddenly I鈥檓 learning Ohm鈥檚 Law, what a capacitor was, what a resistor is, calculating numerical factors. And it all started coming into being.鈥�
While student debt levels are continuing to rise, which could potentially put college out of reach for many students interested in pursuing careers that combine the arts and technology, Gaskins points to some areas of progress on the federal level. Last month, lawmakers focused on integrating the arts into STEM into the landmark re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act recently passed by Congress.
She calls the adoption of STEAM in schools around the country an ongoing process.
鈥淚 think that a lot of kids have been sort of indoctrinated in this idea that 鈥業f you fail, you鈥檙e a failure鈥� and I think that has to change,鈥� she says. "Seeing adults that are failing and not giving up and going in and fixing [a project] helps young people understand that it鈥檚 part of a process."
