Christopher Smith, author of The Creolization of American Culture gave a TED talk at Lubbock called “The Homeland of the Mind,” focusing on how people learn.

Smith is an associate professor and chair of musicology/ethnomusicology and the director of the Vernacular Music Center at the Texas Tech University School of Music. His study and practice covers how people learn using demonstration, imitation and critique.

One example of the “vernacular” method of learning from Smith’s talk: “You don’t learn a perfect jump shot by reading about it.”