Katherine Thompson

Class of 2010

I am a senior African Studies concentrator with a secondary

field in Government; I am using the perspective of linguistic

anthropology to study hiphop music in urban northern Nigeria.

Specifically, I am interested in the micropolitics of language

and identity among urban youth and the ways that hiphop artists

mobilize linguistic resources to build identities, critique society,

and advocate for social change. The department’s African

Language Program has allowed me to study Hausa, one of

Nigeria’s major languages, which in turn has enhanced my

research.