As global pop sensation Taylor Swift continues the international leg of her record-setting Eras Tour, her cultural impact that has revitalized economies and shaped government policies is now spreading into institutions of higher learning.
Perfectly summing up the absolute state of higher education, universities across the country — including Ivy League schools like Harvard University — will offer for-credit courses studying Swift’s artistry, entrepreneurship, and cultural influence in the Spring 2024 semester.
The most prominent educational opportunity for collegiate “swifties” will be Harvard University’s “Taylor Swift and Her World,” offered via the storied college’s English Department. A report from The Harvard Crimson reveals that students will earn credit by deep-diving Swift’s musical and lyrical style, examining her sources of inspiration, and unpacking her cultural influence in a process typically reserved for writers like William Shakespeare and John Milton.
Other topics of study will include the 33-year-old pop star’s relationship with Kansas City Chief’s tight end Travis Kelce, as well as connections between Swift and other writers and musicians.
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According to course instructor Stephanie Burt — a biological male who identifies as both a female and “a diehard Swiftie” — the class will be structured like a traditional literature course, with a focus on Swift’s “lyrics and creative composition.”
Why yes I am teaching a Taylor Swift class this spring @Harvard How could you tell? pic.twitter.com/JHWUvJbDzA
— Stephanie Burt (Taylor's Version) 🥥✨ (@accommodatingly) November 1, 2023
“We are lucky enough to be living in a time when one of our major artists is also one of the most famous people on the planet,” Burt said. “Why would you not have a course on that?”
True to form for a modern liberal arts curriculum, Burt’s class will also analyze “White texts, Southern texts, transatlantic texts, and queer subtexts” through assigned reading in order to dissect race and class issues.
“Taylor Swift is someone who establishes complicated and changing relationships to the idea of Americanness and to the idea of white Americanness and of middle America,” Burt said.
Nearly 300 students have signed up for the course so far.
But while Harvard University marks the most high-profile institution offering a deep dive into Taylor Swift, the phenomenon is not isolated just to the Ivy League. Across the country, colleges and universities are seizing on Swift’s popularity to launch courses across all departments.
At UC Berkeley, a student-led class entitled “Artistry & Entrepreneurship: Taylor’s Version” will examine “stereotypical critiques” of Swift and discuss themes of “genre and race and whiteness,” along with feminism and girl culture.
Similarly, the University of Florida is preparing to offer “Musical Storytelling With Taylor Swift and Other Iconic Female Artists,” allowing students to reflect on concepts like “old flames, infidelity, aging, and double standards.”
Arizona State University, meanwhile, has integrated Swift into its psychology program, offering “Psychology of Taylor Swift — Advanced Topics of Social Psychology” to study her work with “gossip, relationships, and revenge.”
Additional Taylor Swift-themed courses are available at Sanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, New York University, and Ghent University in Belgium.
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