How a Georgia Tech professor uses Kendrick Lamar to teach STEM
Even with so much going on these days (and oh my sisters and brothers, you and I know it’s a lot), the shift from Labor Day weekend into “unofficial fall” and this cooler morning air is doing a lot of good, at least for me.
I can’t say enough how much I love fall over all seasons. Fall is what some people think summer is. The weather is unbeatable, the sports action ratchets up and, in my opinion, fashion is a lot more fashionable — and the changing colors of our tree canopy make this place look like a whole painting. Sure, you can spend a summer in ATL and have a great experience, but I don’t think you know much about Atlanta if you haven’t been around a few years to see the leaves go from green to red and golden brown.
If nothing else, autumn feels calmer. I personally could use a little less extra for a season or two.
The main thing that really makes fall feel like fall for me is the reminder that school’s back in session. My daughter just started high school, and while I’m still tripping over what that means, I’m also thinking about the end of this educational journey and what comes next.
My 13-year-old kid knows exactly what she wants to be: a pilot for Delta Air Lines. She’s super serious, and actively pursuing her future career in ways that honestly blow me away. She’s in a youth aviation program; I have video of her and a trainer flying a Cessna around Atlanta just before summer. I don’t know that I want to fly my own plane ever. She’s already charting new paths! It’s a blessing.
But what does education look like after she graduates? Is it just aviation training? I’ve been told she needs to have a backup plan, because AI may be piloting more planes than humans in the near future. So let’s include college, but where and why? And depending on where she lands, no pun intended, what will her post-secondary experience be, culturally speaking?
With all these questions on my mind (maybe I need less coffee), I’m excited about a couple things in today’s newsletter:
We’ve got a great profile of Joycelyn Wilson of Georgia Tech, who fuses hip-hop music and STEM in her courses. Watch this video of Joyce to get a quick glimpse of the professor using Kendrick Lamar to instruct curious students.
Also, in our featured slot, we’re inviting high school graduates starting school this year to join UATL’s Student Advisory Council. The idea: we’ll hear directly from a spectrum of Black students on whatever their post-secondary education will be, whether that’s trade or vocational school, certificate programs and/or college — HBCU and otherwise.
Check out the rest below, become a paid supporter of UATL and enjoy fake fall while it lasts!
About the Author
Mike Jordan is senior editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Black culture brand, UATL. A longtime culture journalist, his work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, National Geographic, Rolling Stone and others. Jordan won the James Beard Foundation’s 2024 Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award and was a 2023 finalist.
