There’s Now a Legit Taylor Swift Class at New York University

Shake Off your boring units with a Swiftie syllabus.

You take a deep breath, and you walk through the doors, it's the morning of your very first day… Of your new fave uni course all about Taylor Swift.

Yep, not kidding. That’s the reality for a lucky class of New York University students this semester.

The impact of the cultural icon that is Taylor Swift is now being studied at the Clive Davis Institute at NYU, with an understandably long waitlist.

According to Variety, the course description says Swift's career will be examined through political and cultural lenses, with students to develop “an understanding and appreciation for Taylor Swift as a creative music entrepreneur.”

I didn't know we needed an academic class for that, but it’s iconic and we’ll certainly take it.

It’ll also involve discussions of the exploitation of youth and girlhood in the entertainment industry, the politics of race in contemporary pop music, the legacy of country and pop music, and more.

This will all be done through lectures and close readings of her music and the public discourse surrounding her.

Taylor’s fanbase is known for being extremely devoted, but the star also has a history of the star being called divisive by stacks of critics too. The class will examine both sides of this coin.

It’ll be taught by Rolling Stone Journalist, Brittany Spanos, who’s been writing about Taylor Swift for years. Here’s what she said on Twitter:

for all those waiting on updates on how the taylor class is going, i played dear john more than once and went on a too long tangent about gaga’s 2009 vma performance (i promise i had a point)

— brittany spanos (@ohheybrittany) February 3, 2022

It’s not the first time a pop culture icon has been utilised in the education space. Another New York college taught a sociology class on Miley Cyrus back in 2014, and Monash Business School will be using Squid Game to teach economics this year.

Taylor herself has been invited to speak at the class, but the offer is still pending. I guess she just couldn’t come to the phone right now.

Surely this course becomes a hit and then makes its way into the worldwide curriculum? Only in our Wildest Dreams…

i think i should be allowed to just teach a class at nyu about one direction instead of having to pay back my loans

— 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 (@sincesuburbia) February 3, 2022

Header Image: @luresofloki via Twitter, Taylor Swift via Twitter and Instagram