UAlbany Honors College Course Studies Bad Bunny, Reggaeton and Resistance
By Sophie Coker
ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 24, 2026) — Even before Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance sparked global attention and debate, a class at the University at Albany was studying the artist’s societal influence.
Taught by lecturer Sherez Mohamed, TUNI250: Bad Bunny and Reggaetón as Resistance to Neocolonialism is a unique course that uses the music of Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny (and other Puerto Rican artists) to explore Puerto Rican culture and history through a sociocultural lens.
The class is hosted through UAlbany’s Honors College, which offers unique seminar-style courses. Honors seminars approach subjects — often nontraditional ones — in an interdisciplinary manner and emphasize building global awareness.
Using songs from global sensation Bad Bunny as an entry point, Mohamed and her students explore complex topics, such as cultural identity, the Puerto Rican diaspora, colonialism and gentrification.
“I thought we would just be listening to Bad Bunny songs and analyzing the lyrics, but we’re diving deep into Puerto Rican culture,” said Emely Bathel, a sophomore studying business and sociology. “There is way more history that I didn’t even know about."
Considering how music is used as a tool to motivate social change and resist oppression, the class approaches history from an artistic and musical perspective.
“When I created this class, I wanted to create a channel to connect history to current events because pop culture doesn’t exist in a bubble,” said Mohamed, who has a PhD in Linguistics. “Bad Bunny opens the door to learning about other cultures and I hope this course serves as the starting point for students to continue learning about other cultures and languages through the rest of UAlbany’s robust offerings.”
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show highlighted Puerto Rico’s electric grid crisis, featured an independence-era Puerto Rican flag, and included additional symbolism. The superstar’s popularity in the United States has skyrocketed following the performance. His single “DtMF” is only the fourth all- or mostly-Spanish-language songs to reach No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100’s history.
Following the performance, UAlbany students examined the symbolism tied to resistance, the cultural tributes made, including the space held for the Puerto Rican diaspora, references to respect for diversity both in race and gender, and more.
“Initially, I listened to Bad Bunny just because I liked his music. But now I can see how he uses his platform to speak out against issues, especially ones that relates to my own family as a first-generation Latina,” said Jaqueline Cansino-Torres, a freshman adolescent education major.
Bad Bunny’s halftime performance concluded with a quote displayed on a jumbotron at Levi’s Stadium: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Mohamed’s class has been discussing this message of unity, exploring how love and solidarity overcome hate.
“It is not a feasible goal to define unity as everyone being the same, doing the same thing, or speaking the same way,” Mohamed said. “If we can learn to just be curious about other cultures without dominating or claiming it for ourselves, we can bridge a divide.”
View more coverage of the class from News 10ABC.