Students at two universities are weeks away from beginning courses in which they will study the works of Taylor Swift.
Both Queens University in Kingston, Ont. and the University of Texas at Austin announced the classes back in May.
At Queens, Taylor Swift’s Literary Legacy (Taylor’s Version) aims to “cultivate an understanding of the intersections of literary and cultural studies by exploring Swift’s work through the lenses afforded by literary theory (e.g., feminist, or queer theory) and by discussing her sociopolitical impact on contemporary culture.”
A class of 75 will read lyrics of songs from Swift’s nine studio albums as well as popular texts she alludes to in her songs. “Students will also be expected to independently view the documentary Miss Americana (2020), Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Session (2020), and several music videos, including All Too Well: The Short Film (2021),” according to a description of the course, which is being taught by Swift fan and Queen's PhD student Meghan Burry.
At the University of Texas at Austin, Literary Contests and Contexts: The Taylor Swift Songbook will use “the songwriting of pop music icon Taylor Swift to introduce literary critical reading and research methods-basic skills for work in English literature and other humanities disciplines,” according to a release.
“Students will address topics such as gender, authenticity, and the authorship of a writer’s texts, as well as the ways in which readers and fans impact how artists and writers work and produce." The course also hopes to get students "thinking about the history of language and how etymologies and linguistic traditions enrich the way we read."
When it was announced in May, the course was hyped with: "Let’s turn that Easter Egg hunting and reading in detail to academic purposes!"
Dr. Elizabeth Scala, who is teaching the class, explained in a release: “I want to take what Swift fans can already do at a sophisticated level, tease it out for them a bit with a different vocabulary, and then show them how, in fact, Swift draws on richer literary traditions in her songwriting, both topically but also formally in terms of how she uses references, metaphors, and clever manipulations of words.
“I’ll be showing students that these operations and interpretive moves one makes when reading her songs are appropriate to all forms of writing.”
Earlier this year, music journalist Brittany Spanos taught a course on Swift at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute. The pop star later received an honorary degree from the university.
"I'd like to thank NYU for making me, technically, on paper at least, a doctor," Swift told graduates at a ceremony in May. "Not the type of doctor you would want around in case of an emergency. Unless your specific emergency was that you desperately needed to hear a song with a catchy hook and an intensely cathartic bridge section.
"Or if your emergency was that you needed a person who can name over 50 breeds of cats in one minute."