Harvard University launches course on Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has conquered the music industry in the past decade. Now the pop star’s impact will be studied at America’s most prestigious university.
Taylor Swift has conquered the music industry in the past decade. Now the pop star’s impact will be studied at America’s most prestigious university.
Harvard is offering a course exploring Swift’s life and career, as well as the fan culture that has become one of the most dedicated in music.
The course, Taylor Swift & Her World, will teach students “how to think about white texts, southern texts, transatlantic texts and queer subtexts”, Harvard says. It will examine the female artists who broke a path for Swift, including Dolly Parton.
Swift, 33, will be examined in a wider literary context, with the course description stating: “We will read literary works important to her and works about song and performance, with novels, memoirs and poems by (among others) Willa Cather, James Weldon Johnson, Tracey Thorn and William Wordsworth.”
The course will not be all highbrow, however. Stephanie Burt, an English professor at Harvard who is teaching the course says: “She writes about her relationships, so we will be talking about her relationships.”
That includes NFL player Travis Kelce, 34, but Burt says he is unlikely to feature heavily unless Swift releases a song about him.
– The Times