School is underway across the country and at one university, "Swiftonomics: The Economics of Taylor Swift" looks to examine the artist's impact on the market to teach students about economics.
The course being offered for the first time this semester at American University was the winning design made by two students for a course competition last spring. "Swiftonomics" was supposed to be a one-time offering, but there are already plans to offer it in the spring due to immense interest, according to WTOP.
"I think people see economics as a scary thing with a lot of numbers and it's very complicated, but when you kind of pull apart the things that you enjoy out in the world, you can connect those and make it much simpler and more enjoyable," Mackenzie Shultz, one of the course's designers, told the DC-area news outlet.
The course is being taught by Economics Department Chair Kara Reynolds, who in recent lessons taught students about economic spillovers from the Eras Tour, potential environmental impacts and the Ticketmaster scandal.
American University is not the only higher education institution offering a course on the popular pop star: Harvard University taught a literary class on Swift's songwriting; the University of South Carolina held a business course on the singer's Eras Tour; and Northeastern University offered a two-day seminar using Swift to look gender studies and English literature, USA Today reported earlier this year.
At least nine other universities were reported to be offering Taylor Swift-themed courses this fall, according to BestColleges.
Professor Elizabeth Scala at the University of Texas at Austin, who taught a course on Swift in 2022, told TODAY.com that she believes many universities may be using the singer's popularity to pique students' interest in topics they might otherwise had no interest in.
Originally published on Latin Times.
