A Taylor Swift College Course? Heck Yeah, Says New York University

Hey Swifties, brace yourself, you're going to a Taylor Swift class—yup, you heard that just about right. Launched on 26th January and continuing through 9th March, New York University's Clive Davis Institute has introduced its first-ever course on the American singer-songwriter, to be taught by Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos. The course, which reportedly has a long waitlist, will cover Swift's evolution as a creative music entrepreneur, the legacy of pop and country songwriters, discourses of youth and girlhood, and the politics of race in contemporary popular music. 

While Taylor Swift has been invited to speak to the class as well, the status of that request is still pending. The course description reads in part, "This course proposes to deconstruct both the appeal and aversions to Taylor Swift through close readings of her music and public discourse as it relates to her growth as an artist and a celebrity. Through readings, lectures and more, the class delves into analyses of the culture and politics of teen girlhood in pop music, fandom, media studies, whiteness, and power, as it relates to her image and the images of those who have both preceded and succeeded her. We’ll also consider topics like copyright and ownership, American nationalism and the ongoing impact of social media on the pop music industry."

Brittany Spanos—a Swiftie herself—confessed, "Teaching a course at Clive Davis has been a dream of mine since I attended NYU. I took several of the Topics in Recorded Music courses in the program while an undergrad and they were foundational to my work as a music journalist. I’ve been covering Taylor Swift since I began my writing career a decade ago and have been a super fan of hers for even longer. It’s such an honour to be able to share my Swiftie expertise with a sharp group of students. I hope to help them rethink how to engage with one of the world's biggest and sometimes divisive stars, in the same way Clive professors like Jason King, Vivien Goldman and Joe Levy did for me when I took their courses." 

Musician Jason King, who will serve as the chair of the course, told Variety, "To me, the class was a no-brainer when Brittany first suggested it. She’s a Taylor fan but she also understands how to contextualize her culturally and get students to think more deeply about her and her music through the lens of gender, feminism, race, class, and other categories related to identity, and that deeper thinking is what this program is all about." 

While this may come as a surprise, NYU wasn't the first to introduce a course centred on the life of a famous personality. Celebrities including Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus have often been a subject of educational interest, with universities launching courses based on them too.