Drop Beat Then Drop Knowledge

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Hip-hop has finally found its way into the otherwise dull world of the university catalog.

“Best Practices in Social Media,” a UCLA Extension class taught by Erik Deutsch, principal of West L.A.’s Excel PR, is being promoted through a 41-second YouTube rap video.

The tune, written and performed by former student Kimberly Tronic, touts the class in which students can “Optimize your website /Get views on your blog/Let’s see your Pinterest board/And pics of Erik’s dog.”

Deutsch said both the medium and message embody his curriculum for the course.

“When I got into PR, most of what we did was media relations,” Deutsch said. “We still do that and it’s incredibly important. But we also have ways to reach audiences in ways we never had before. To be successful, you have to develop content that people find entertaining. That’s exactly what she did.”

He said he’s not sure if the video was a deciding factor for prospective students, but he hopes students enroll after reading the standard syllabus as well.

Would Tronic be up for setting the syllabus to music?

“I’m always open to new opportunities to write about,” Tronic said. “I would be more than happy to do whimsical rhymes for the class.”

– Justin Yang

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