University of Melbourne to run Taylor Swift research seminar
Taylor Swift’s influence is that significant she has now become the focus of a university studies, with one coming to the University of Melbourne.
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Taylor Swift has become a subject of university study with her influence in scholarly circles spreading across the globe.
American Rolling Stone magazine senior writer Brittany Spanos has been teaching Swift focused classes at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute for several years and is heading to Melbourne to take part in a “Swiftposium” as well as speaking at The Wheeler Center.
As part of the “Swiftposium”, which is being run by Melbourne University from February 11 - 13, RMIT is hosting a “Fanposium” on February 11
Speaking at the “Fanposium” is Kate Pattison, who is doing her PhD on fan culture and Swift, and esteemed Melbourne music journalist Cameron Adams.
Spanos said the Swift fever that was sweeping the world connected to the Eras tour was partly fuelled by the contagion of excitement and her ability to continually find new fans while keeping her established ones.
“She has always been really big, she has been playing stadiums since Red (her 2012 album), but it is so surreal to see the kind of excitement that has taken over,” Spanos said.
“I think people like being excited about something. It think it is contagious. You see it happen in one city and it is hard not to want that to be your city too. People are excited to be part of history.”
Spanos said the release of Swift’s albums Evermore and Folklore during the pandemic in 2020 unexpectedly escalated her fan base.
“For people who weren’t really sold on Taylor Swift, maybe didn’t like country music, maybe did not like pop music, maybe just did not like her, I think they brought in a lot of new fans and brought in a lot of respect,” Spanos said.
“They are two of her most critically acclaimed albums and it was just an accidental smart move by her to showcase another side of herself. Something that was not necessarily super commercial, ended up being super commercial because it was a time when people were inside and really relying on the music that was coming out and her two albums just happened to be two of the best from that period.”
Spanos said seeing artists will the scope and power of Swift may be rare in the future owing to the timing of her career.
“She has changed a lot in the industry, but I think it is also in the context of being an artist who existed at almost the end of physical media,” she said.
“She got her start at the end of that (the era of CD sales) and was very successful at that …. when we moved to buying music on iTunes she was able to dominate that and now in the streaming age she has created new records.
“She is probably going to be one of the last artists like this, where they create such an all-consuming pop cultural moment.
“It is a game changer in a sense, but also the game sort of ends with her generation of popstars. I think of her and Beyonce and Drake are lingering examples of that.”
Brittany Spanos speaks on ‘Swiftmania’ at The Wheeler Centre on Tuesday, February 13.
Tickets: https://www.wheelercentre.com/events/brittany-spanos-swiftmania-taylors-version/
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