The Hiphop Archive is proud to present our new research team. Our staff associates work from several venues in the United States to represent national perspectives on Hiphop music and culture.


Education and Knowledge Coordinator
Dawn-Elissa Fischer Banks
banks@hiphoparchive.org
Dawn-Elissa researches and develops all educational materials for community education projects initiated by the Hiphop Archive.  Her research interests include Hiphop as critical pedagogy in the United States and Japan.  Dawn-Elissa is an interdisciplinary Ph.D. student in anthropology and education at the University of Florida.

Film and Video Research Coordinator
Dionne Bennett
bennett@hiphoparchive.org
Dionne analyzes and reviews film, television and video productions that are marketed to and about youth of color and those representing marginalized communities. Her research interests include race, gender, sexuality and Black love. She is an advanced doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Development Coordinator
Jovonne Bickerstaff
bickerstaff@hiphoparchive.org
Jovonne works with the director in the development of programs with a special emphasis on youth in Western Europe. She is a graduate of MIT with a BS in Urban Studies & Planning as well as a BS in Writing. She is an evolving writer striving to create pieces with the vision of Morrision & the courage of Baldwin - and to live at least as fitfully as she writes. Her research interests include race and intercultural relations, urban education, class hierarchies & power structures, and the constructions of Black group identities in Western Europe.

Web Coordinator
Chhay Chhun
chhun@hiphoparchive.org
Chhay is responsible for the conservation of all electronic media that the Hiphop Archive disseminates. He maintains, updates, and administrates the Archive's website, and also designs and creates for the website. Representing the Bronx, Chhay recently received his B.A. in English from Harvard University. He has worked for the Hiphop Archive as a Zone Project researcher and worked on the Roundtable Discussion as a staff assistant. He is a b-boy and DJ who will do gigs for the love of Hiphop.


Arts Education Coordinator
Nicole Hodges
hodges@hiphoparchive.org
Nicole creates archive programs with an arts education or youth development focus.  Her research interests include Hiphop theater, solo performance, youth theater education and cross-cultural translation.  Nicole is a Ph. D. student in the Program in American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

Media Coordinator
James Peterson
peterson@hiphoparchive.org
James is responsible for research and analysis of media representation of Hiphop. His interests include Hiphop journalism and scholarship. James is an advanced doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania and teaches courses at high schools and colleges and universities.

Research Coordinator
Josef Sorett
sorett@hiphoparchive.org
Josef is responsible for all research and preservation of Hiphop representation on the World Wide Web. His research interests include Hiphop spirituality and youth development. Josef is a Ph. D. student in Afro-American studies with a concentration in religion at Harvard University.

Health and Well-being Coordinator
Lidet Tilahun
tilahun@hiphoparchive.org
Lidet is Assistant to the Director and the Director of Strategy for the African AIDS Initiative International. Her research interests include the use of the internet in health care, health care ethics, health care research and prevention. Lidet is responsible for the development of youth health initiatives and general programming and correspondence for the Archive.