At this point, college courses about Taylor Swift are pretty standard: Schools ranging from USC Berkeley and Arizona State, to Ghent University in Belgium, to New York University and UT at Austin have all offered classes on her. But now, the crème de la crème of the Ivy League is finally getting on board.
In 2024, Harvard University will offer a course called "Taylor Swift and Her World," taught by English professor, poet and critic Stephanie L. Burt. Students will not only study Taylor's lyrics and music, but also a range of established authors who Burt feels are relevant to Taylor's work, like William Wordsworth and Willa Cather.
The required readings, according to the Harvard Crimson, will teach students "how to think about white texts, Southern texts, transatlantic texts, and queer subtexts.” "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,” Burt says.
She adds, "We are lucky enough to be living in a time when one of our major artists is also one of the most famous people on the planet. Why would you not have a course on that?”
Meanwhile, University of Florida at Gainesville will also introduce a Taylor course in 2024. Called "Musical storytelling with Taylor Swift and other iconic female artists," it'll pair deep dives into Taylor's songwriting with works by Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday.
According to the campus paper, the 15 spots in the class filled up in 10 seconds.