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Afrika Bambaataa returns to campus Oct. 26 to complete his three-year term as a visiting scholar.

DJ Afrika Bambaataa – a founding father of hip-hop and a cultural leader for more than 40 years – makes his last official visit to Cornell in his role as a visiting scholar next week.

During his visit Oct. 26-28, Bambaataa will talk with Cornell students in the classes “Hip-Hop: Conflict and Controversy,” an Africana studies course taught by Travis Gosa; and “Hip-Hop and Global Perspective,” a music course taught by Catherine Appert; and with students at Ithaca College. He also takes part in two film screenings and discussions Oct. 26 and 27 at Cinemapolis.

He is completing a three-year appointment made in 2012 by Cornell University Library in conjunction with its Hip Hop Collection and the Department of Music in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Many people know that Bambaataa is one of the most important originators of hip-hop culture,” Hip Hop Collection assistant curator Ben Ortiz said. “The general public may be less aware that Bam is also the founder of the legendary Universal Zulu Nation, the world’s oldest and most globally widespread hip-hop cultural organization, which celebrates its 42nd anniversary next month.”

“Rubble Kings,” a documentary about 1970s gangs in New York City, screens Oct. 26 from 7 to 10 p.m. at Cinemapolis, followed by a discussion with Bambaataa and the movie’s director, Shan Nicholson, Bronx activist Lorraine Montenegro and Ithaca City School District Superintendent Luvelle Brown.

On Oct. 27 at 7 p.m., the recently released “Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives” tells the story of the late-night radio duo in New York who introduced listeners to artists including Jay-Z, Eminem, Nas, Biggie Smalls and the Wu-Tang Clan.

A discussion featuring its stars, Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia, will be introduced by Bambaataa and moderated by DJ Rich Medina ’92. Tickets are $5 for Oct. 26, $6.50 for Oct. 27.

Bambaataa is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee, widely known as the godfather of hip-hop and one of the originators of breakbeat DJing. He helped hip-hop to expand from a 1970s South Bronx grassroots community movement to a global phenomenon.

His appointment as a visiting scholar was the first such university distinction for a hip-hop artist. Over the past three years, Bambaataa has visited with classes at Cornell and Ithaca College, met with student and community groups, and shared with local and campus audiences the music he helped to create and popularize.

Cornell Library is home to the world’s largest archive on hip-hop culture, documenting its birth and growth and preserving thousands of sound recordings, fliers, photographs, videos and other artifacts.