Emily Hersey, a 2016 graduate of Carleton’s African Studies and History program, is currently studying a Master of Arts in Diversity Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Emily Hersey has won a South African Research Chair Initiative Scholarship funded by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation of South Africa.
Under the supervision of the South African National Research Chair in Critical Diversity Studies, Dr. Melissa Steyn, Emily will be carrying out research on South African hip hop music and its significance to youth culture. The goal of the project is to recognize the significance of hip hop to the creation of livelihoods for Black South Africans and the music’s unifying force over South Africa’s diverse society in its continuing efforts to support a future of social equality and social justice.