Discovering Hip-Hop: A Case for Bringing 'Hamilton' into Students' Lives

In this article, Kate Collins begins by explaining how she discovered that "Hamilton: An American Musical," a Broadway show that incorporates a mix of musical genres: hip-hop, jazz, classic show tunes, and show-stopper numbers based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, could be brought into her teaching as a rich resource for her high school American literature classes. She provides an outline of what she named The "Hamilton" Listening Project in action, highlights key elements that make hip-hop music useful in teaching elements of poetry, and recommends using hip-hop to open the door to conversations about racial justice and antiracism in today's America. Overall, she makes the case that by including hip-hop music in English Language Arts (ELA) teaching, educators can make portions of American literature more engaging through the Listening Project unit she designed, and also energize both the teaching of poetry and conversations about topics such as diversity, history, race, and silences with their students.