Concordia University might soon be able to call itself “ConcordiYE University,” as the Montreal institution is welcoming Canada’s first-ever course devoted to Kanye West.
In the fall semester, Concordia University will be offering a course titled “Kanye vs. Ye: Genius by Design,” taught by Iraqi-Canadian rapper and professor Narcy Narce.
In an Instagram post, Narce says he wants to “bring something new and fresh to students” and that the Fine Arts course will “discuss the world through the lens of one of the most influential artists of our generation.”
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The three-credit course won’t exclusively be about Kanye, says the professor. “It’s about community, creativity, responsibility, accountability, fame and mental health, dreams and nightmares – and more importantly, self-actualization,” he says.
The description of the Special Topics in Fine Arts course says the class will dissect West’s “design, music, celebrity life, and cultural impacts” in the age of information. By using the 44-year-old rapper’s albums as cultural, artistic, and personal lenses, the class will study the evolution of what Concordia calls concepts of “Kanyetive Dissonance — the unique, complex, and controversial natures and context of Kanye’s body of work and impacts.”
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Narce, whose known as Professor Yassin Alsalman around campus, has previously highlighted other hip-hop influences through his courses. He’s been teaching at Concordia University since 2013.
Professor Alsalman says his Kanye course will be “theory and guest-driven” and that the 13-week course will accommodate up to 200 students.
Alsalman tells Daily Hive he and his wife, Sundus Abdul Hadi, will be opening a bookstore and boutique called MAKTABA in Old Montreal this April. “Our focus is a specialized bookstore and culture collaboration space around communities underrepresented in MontrĂ©al and Quebec,” he says. It will also serve as the hub for the couple’s clothing brand LIBRARY.
The Kanye class — FFAR 298 — is an introductory level course “which provides an opportunity for the study of specialized aspects of Fine Arts,” says Concordia.
Students can find more information about Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts through the university’s online portal.
Here’s hoping Professor Alsalman plays West’s entire “Graduation” during the last class…
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