Dr. Raphael Travis Jr. | Bio
Dr. Raphael Travis Jr., LCSW
Professor, MSW Program Director at Texas State University, School of Social Work Lab: Collaborative Research for Education, Art, and Therapeutic Engagement (CREATE)
Dr. Travis is a Professor and MSW Program Director at Texas State University in the School of Social Work. His research, practice and consultancy work emphasizes healthy development over the life-course, resilience, and civic engagement. He also investigates creative arts, especially Hip-Hop culture, as a source of health and well-being for individuals and communities. He is author of the book “The Healing Power of Hip Hop.” His latest research, linking arts engagement with positive development, and reduced depression, anxiety, and stress, appears in a variety of academic journals and book chapters.
The Collaborative Research for Education, Art, and Therapeutic Engagement (CREATE) Lab, at Texas State University (San Marcos, TX, USA) led by Dr. Travis, partners with researchers, educators, artists, and community-based organizations focused on better understanding the educational, health, and therapeutic benefits of music and art engagement. The CREATE Lab has multiple active research projects including working with TXST TRIO and Upward Bound that explore the benefits of creative arts on mental health. Many of these projects build upon the lab’s on-campus music studio. The studio, complete with professional quality music technology, hardware and software, makes constructing, recording, remixing, and other ways of engaging music possible.