Taylor Swift Class to Be Offered at University of Texas
The University of Texas will offer a course about Taylor Swift this fall.
The college announced the offering in a Facebook post that describes the course, taught by Dr. Elizabeth Scala, as one that “provides an introduction to literary studies and research methods that uses the songwriting of @taylorswift as the basis for teaching a wide range of skills.”
According to the Austin American-Statesman, the course is titled “Literary Contests and Contexts — The Taylor Swift Songbook,” and Scala got the idea after her daughter introduced her to Swift following the release of “Red (Taylor’s Version)” in November 2021.
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“Let’s turn that Easter Egg hunting and reading in detail to academic purposes!” the post continues.
“Swift is an intelligent and talented songwriter, and her writing skills are what made me focus on her,” Scala said in an email to the American-Statesman. “For me, it’s all about form (not just or even primarily about content). We will study Swift’s songs as poems and literary structures.”
This is not the first time the singer songwriter has been the subject for a college-level class. New York University offered a class about Taylor Swift earlier this year through the Clive Davis Institute. Rolling Stone journalist Brittany Spanos taught the course, taking students through Swift’s career with many different lenses, ranging from political to feminist to entrepreneurship.
Following Spanos’ course, Swift accepted an honorary doctorate at NYU’s graduation ceremony for the Class of 2022. She also gave a commencement speech.
Swift is also not the only celebrity subject of college studies. Texas State University will offer a course on British singer Harry Styles in the spring of 2023 for the school’s Honors College.
Louie Dean Valencia tweeted the news that he will teach the class, titled “Harry Styles and the Cult of Celebrity: Identity, the Internet, and European Pop Culture.”
“This is what tenure looks like,” Valencia closed his tweet. “Let’s gooooo!”
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