Hot on the heels of Baba Brinkman successfully funding his repertory series of rap shows off-Broadway is another crowdfunding appeal to help spread the combination of rap and science.
Tom McFadden has kept with the science rap videos that he was doing back in graduate school. After Fulbright work in New Zealand and similar efforts in other countries, McFadden is back in the San Francisco area helping middle school students develop raps for science debates. The project is called “Battle Rap Histories of Epic Science” (BRAHE’S Battles) and if fully funded, it would support video production for battle raps on various scientific debates in five schools. The topics?
- “Is Pluto a planet?”
- “Rosalind Franklin vs. Watson & Crick”
- “Tycho Brahe vs. Johannes Kepler”
- “Alfred Wegener vs. ‘The Fixists'”
- “Black Plague vs. Yellow Fever”
As McFadden explains in the promotional video, work has already taken place on the raps, and video production has been funded for one school. Much like Baba Brinkman did with his Rap Guide to Evolution DVD, the idea is to make quality videos to showcase top-flight content. Check out McFadden’s YouTube channel if you aren’t quite sure about his skills.
The Kickstarter campaign runs through the afternoon of April 16th, so please act quickly. And spread the word.
Pasco Phronesis 