Digital Archiving for a Hip Hop Symposium

Dance Education student Naiya Graham presents at the OUR Summer Research Symposium. Photo by Amy Hart.

Naiya Graham believes “there’s power in archiving.”

“A lot of African American culture and history is oral,” she says. “When older folks pass on, a lot of that history passes with them.”

Growing up near the coast in Wilmington, North Carolina, Graham also knows how vulnerable physical artifacts are to natural disasters. So when she began working with Assistant Professor of Dance Ashley Tate to develop materials for an upcoming symposium about Hip Hop, she decided to start a digital archive of her research discoveries and creative output.

A junior dance education major, Graham was a paid summer research scholar through a program managed and funded by the Office of Undergraduate Research. She was paired with Tate, who is producing the three-day Hip Hop symposium in October, with support from a Faculty Research Grant and the Department of Dance.

Graham’s first task was to come up with a name for the symposium. She rooted her search in Hip Hop’s origins and her own musical experiences and found inspiration in The Sugar Hill Gang’s 1979 classic, “Rapper’s Delight.”

“I looked for names that tied back to the history and message of Hip Hop and came up with ‘To the Beat Y’all,’” she said.

Testing her title with Tate and other Hip Hop scholars and enthusiasts, Graham received widespread approval and moved to her next challenge: developing a brand and a logo for the symposium. Although she is a dance student, Graham studied digital design in high school and was able to bring those skills to the project.

Throughout her process, Graham was guided by core questions: How has Hip Hop remained relevant? How has it changed over time? How has it been used as a form of social justice in the community?

“Naiya’s graphic design work for the symposium has been outstanding, bringing creativity and clarity to the event’s visual identity,” Tate said. “It has been awesome working with her throughout the summer and seeing her talents shine.”

As she brainstormed and iterated, Graham kept records of all her work – digital artifacts of her creative ethnographic methodology and its basis in the five pillars of Hip Hop: MC (master of ceremonies), DJ (disc jockey), breaking, graffiti, and knowledge. On July 25, she presented her digital portfolio at the OUR Summer Research Symposium.

“This digital portfolio builds on that legacy by using research-driven graphic design to position Hip Hop as a pedagogical field that is rich in artistic merit, political commentary, and grassroot knowledge production,” she wrote in her project abstract. “The portfolio examines how color, shape, and form serve as visual symbols that evoke emotion and convey complex cultural narratives. By weaving together research, design, and Hip Hop’s cultural foundations, the portfolio functions as a visual archive, a living testament to Hip Hop’s roles as both a scholarly discipline and a tool of resistance.”

Graham will present her portfolio again at the “To the Beat Y’all” symposium in October. In the meantime, she and 11 other dance students are learning a new Hip Hop piece, choregraphed by Tate, which they will perform at the event. Working with Tate – both as a scholar and a choreographer – is gratifying, Graham says.

Professor Ashley Tate leads a hip hop class. — Professor Ashley Tate leads a Hip Hop class. Naiya Graham is center, rear. Photo by Miguel Sanchez.

“I feel like we were co-researchers working together. She expects more, but she also empowers you at the same time. She cares about what her students can learn and take with them, not just in dance, but also outside of dance.”