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Teachers don’t often get a lot of respect from their students. However one exception to this rule occurs when the teacher also happens to be a famous musician. Over the past few years a handful of rappers and rockers have logged hours in the classroom — as well as the concert hall — and taught some of the most interesting courses that we’ve ever heard of. Here we highlight five musicians who have all had—or are about to have—experiences shaping young minds. Speaking of which, is it too late for us to go back to school?
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Thurston Moore (pictured above)
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Thurston Moore is best known as being a founding member of Sonic Youth and earlier this year he released the solo album Demolished Thoughts. But apparently that’s not enough to keep him busy. Moore has just announced that from July 4 – 10 he will be teaching a writing workshop at the Jack Kerouac School Of Disembodied Poetics, which is a part of Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. This will be Moore’s first foray into teaching; he has worked on plenty of literary projects in the past, including the 2008 photo collection No Wave: Post Punk. Underground. New York. 1976 – 1980. Remember prospective students, no teenage daydreaming during class!
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Greg Graffin
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Although Greg Graffin has been the frontman for Bad Religion since they formed back in 1979, he also has a Ph.D. from Cornell University and taught an evolution class at UCLA. (If you’re interested in learning more about his beliefs in either of these subjects, check out his recent book Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science And Bad Religion In A World Without God.) Graffin has taught at his Ivy League alma mater in the past and recently announced he will be returning to Ithaca this fall to teach a class in evolution. On a side note: Graffin also just had an ancient bird called “Qiliania graffini” named after him. How many of your current teachers can say that?
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Travis Shettel
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Before Piebald called it quits a few years ago, they were only touring on the weekends due to frontman Travis Shettel’s duties as an elementary school teacher’s assistant. Don’t believe us? Well then check out the chorus of kids who open the  band’s song “Just A Simple Plan.” Piebald reunited in 2010 after a two-year hiatus and we hear Shettel is slinging drinks these days, but you never know when he might return to the teaching fold. If he does, hopefully his grade-school students won’t take Piebald song titles like “Sex Sells And (Unfortunately) I’m Buying” and “It’s Going To Get Worse Before It Gets Better” to heart… at least not until they get a little older.
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Bun B
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Rapper Bun B just announced that he’ll be teaching a class at Rice University—and no, it’s not going to be a cooking class. The course’s subject matter is Hip Hop And Religion and will take place next spring. Although the course hasn’t started yet, Bun B has made it clear that his students should be hungry to learn about the subject at hand, not to try to get a record deal. “If they’re coming into the course specifically to give me a demo…that’s a wrap on the first day,” he recently said. “My plan was to put a [demo] box on the desk, and the box is going to stay there and everybody stays there until the course is over. Nobody gets to listen to [any demos] until the course is over.”
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Jim Jones
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Dipset’s Jim Jones is one of the busiest artists around, however last year he still made time to teach a six-week course on the music industry at Fordham University. He taught the class once a week alongside other guest lecturers for 25 lucky students and covered the fundamentals of the music industry in addition to exploring creative content, artist management, music management and networking. There is no word on whether Jones will be teaching the class again, but if he does we’ll be the first ones on the waiting list. Hey, if you’re lucky maybe Jones will even give you a ride home from class in his Bentley… then again, maybe you’d be better off taking the bus.
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