A Taylor Swift course will be taught at New York University by the ultimate Swiftie
Yes, you read right. Taylor Swift’s career and cultural impact will now be taught at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, with Rolling Stones staff writer Brittany Spanos (a major Swiftie) teaching the course. That’s how ingrained in popular culture ‘America’s sweetheart’ is.
In an interview with Variety, Spanos shared, “I’ve been covering Taylor Swift since I began my writing career a decade ago and have been a super fan of hers for even longer,” adding it was “such an honour to be able to share my Swiftie expertise” with students. “I hope to help them rethink how to engage with one of the things world’s biggest and sometimes divisive stars,” she continued.
The course commenced on 26 January 2022 and will run through 9 March. Spanos shared the news on Twitter, writing, “My official comment is that my students already rule and I am very excited for the rest of the class xo.”
The class will trace the evolution of Swift’s career as a songwriter and entrepreneur, discuss the exploitation of youth and girlhood within the entertainment industry, examine the politics of race in contemporary pop music, consider the legacy of country and pop music, and more. The course will be chaired by music writer and artist Jason King.
“[Brittany Spanos is] a Taylor fan but she also understands how to contextualise her culturally, and get students to think more deeply about her and her music through the lens of gender, feminism, race, and class, and other categories related to identity, and that deeper thinking is what this program is all about,” King told Variety.
It’s even been said that Swift herself has been invited to speak to the class, although it has not yet been confirmed whether or not she will be available to do so.
