Why are colleges offering courses about Taylor Swift?
Christopher Tremoglie
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Pop music superstar Taylor Swift has dominated news headlines in 2023. Between her record-breaking tour, romance with NFL player Travis Kelce, and being named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” (and subsequent interview with the magazine, her first in four years), Swift has been all the craze.
Now, academia has jumped on board the Swift bandwagon, with several colleges set to offer courses about the musician next semester.
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The College Fix reported that the University of Florida, Harvard University, and other schools are offering classes about Taylor Swift. At the University of Florida, the class will be provided by the school’s “Honors Program” (because nothing says academic excellence and preparing for the real world upon graduation, like analysis of a contemporary entertainer).
“In this class, students will fearlessly jump then fall into 13 gorgeous weeks of discussing Taylor Swift’s discography, with a focus on her evergreen songwriting,” reads the class’s description, the College Fix reported.
Additionally, students registered for the course will draw “parallels between Swift’s enchanting lyrics and works by other famous female masterminds such as Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, and Dolly Parton.” Also, students enrolled in this “Honors Program” course (at a university that charges tens of thousands of dollars for tuition) will be required to “see a musical about Gloria Estefan” and “write 2 online discussion posts,” the College Fix reported.
Harvard, the Ivy League university that costs nearly $55,000 a year in tuition, will offer “Taylor Swift and Her World,” the College Fix also reported. In this class, students will analyze what it’s like to be extremely popular, influential, and wealthy. It will also prompt students to study what Swift does “with her privilege.”
“Taylor Swift is a good way to think about what it’s like to have a lot of eyes on you and to wonder what you do with your privilege,” reported the Harvard Crimson. The instructor of the course is transgender professor Stephanie Burt.
“I try to teach only the courses that I think our students can really use — either because students want them or because our curriculum needs them,” Burt said. “Taylor Swift is someone who establishes complicated and changing relationships to the idea of Americanness and to the idea of white Americanness and of middle America.”
Huh? What a bunch of malarkey.
Burt’s response is indicative of the self-righteousness of professors who are out of touch with reality. Her answer to why she is teaching the course is an example of why parents should avoid sending students to college. There is no need for a course on Taylor Swift, and not one of the opinions she gives during lectures will help them succeed with anything.
Furthermore, it is vital to remember Burt’s response — and the fact that colleges offer classes on pop musicians — the next time a politician, legislator, or pundit condescendingly references “college-educated” voters when discussing election results or particular voters. While the “educated” are revered among the elite, know that they’re also not calling up the alumni of Taylor Swift college courses to fix their cars, plumbing, air conditioning, or build their houses.
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The fact that a course on Taylor Swift is being offered at any college or university is a complete waste of time. Students pay to attend a class to listen to a professor’s opinions about Taylor Swift. There is no substantive value here, and the classes are indoctrination sessions.
Such courses might be “fun” for the student but do not prepare students for the real world after graduation. Moreover, the fact that college professors get paid for this drivel is just the latest example of how far academia has fallen in this country.