What's Inside Harvard's Taylor Swift Course Syllabus?

Taylor Swift's impact and influence not just in the world of entertainment but also in literature, needs to be studied - literally!

This is why Harvard University is now one of the many universities in the world and in the United States that offers studies on Swift's literary text and other related aspects, including culture, adulthood, and appropriation among many others.

Harvard's Taylor Swift Course Explained

Harvard University will be offering the course "Taylor Swift and Her World," taught by English department instructor Stephanie Burt. The course is open to all Harvard undergrads as a lecture course for Spring 2024, and it does not need any prerequisites. (via Billboard)

Based on the Harvard website description, the course will teach students (both Taylor Swift fans and curious alike) "how to study fan culture, celebrity culture, adolescence, adulthood, and appropriation; how to think about white texts, Southern texts, transatlantic texts, and queer subtexts."

Harvard University wasn't actually a pioneer in studying Swift's body of work. It's following the likes of Arizona State University, University of California - Berkeley, University of Texas, University of Florida, and Stanford University, among many others.

New York University was the first one to teach Taylor-themed classes taught by Brittany Spanos. Launched in 2022, Swift even received an honorary doctorate from the university - teasing some of the songs of "Midnights" in her commencement ceremony speech.

Harvard Taylor Swift Course Syllabus Explored

On social media, fans were thrilled to learn that Harvard is offering a deep dive into Swift's text. One user, theluckywill, then posted screenshots of the Harvard Taylor Swift course syllabus on Twitter/X, as provided by one of their friends, a Harvard student.

Starting Jan. 22, 2024, the class will analyze all of Swift's eras, starting from the self-titled debut album. The class will be focusing on particular songs from the album. For the debut, a deep dive on "Tim McGraw," "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Picture To Burn," and "Our Song" is required, along with some supporting readings.

Swift's text is then compared to other country music stalwarts like Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, whose songs are also under the microscope.

Throughout the course, the albums "Fearless (Taylor's Version)," "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)," "Red (Taylor's Version)," "1989 (Taylor's Version)," "Reputation," "Lover," "Folklore," "Evermore," and "Midnights" will also be tackled along with TLC, Lorde, to name a few.

At one point a deep dive on Swift's "Miss Americana" documentary will also be done, as well as on "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour."

Check out the thread below for more information on Harvard's Taylor Swift course syllabus.

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