Taylor Swift and her influence are everywhere, from your local AMC or an NFL game to college classrooms — actually, more and more college classrooms.
Northeastern University joined other colleges in offering a new course on the world's biggest pop star.
Titled “Speak Now: Gender & Storytelling in Taylor Swift's Eras,” the course focuses on Swift's experimentation with narrative and genre in her music that tells listeners stories of heartbreaking breakups, rage-inducing media control, and fairytale romance . .
“He is so prolific in his songwriting, especially in recent years, that we have seen this archive of his music become a voice not just for one generation, but for many generations,” said Dr. Catherine Fairfield, Northeastern course instructor and postdoctoral fellow. teaching associate. He is also a Swift fan, having been listening to the artist since he was 15.
Fairfield gives examples such as Swift's world-building around Romeo and Juliet and the romantic fantasy in the Fearless hit Love Story. Or the gothic themes of revenge tracks from Swift's darkest era, Reputation.
It's not about Swift either. Fairfield says the course engages the history of women's storytelling, from Swift's narrative influences such as Charlotte Bronte and Daphne du Maurier, to narrative sources not usually given platforms, such as diaries and letters. The latter is what Swift is best known for, a form of confessional writing that has helped her connect with fans.
This piece, the connection, is at the core of the course when it comes to engaging students' perspectives on Swift's vast discography—an archive of the music they likely grew up with.
“It's important to me that students start from a place where they think of songs or moments that connect with them personally and walk backwards from the initial feeling of 'I really like the song Dear John' or 'The Speak Now time is the always for me . ,” said Fairfield, who added that the analysis of Swift's songs will use a combination of students' personal feelings about the artist as well as creative literary analysis.
Fairfield says gender and identity play a big role in this lesson, including how women are often shamed for falling in love with popular culture or art that focuses on love, including the LGBTQ+ field. which is part of Swift's fan base.
The course is an intermediary course, which will run for one week in early January, although Fairfield hopes to expand it to a semester-long course. After all, Swift's nearly 20-year career and 10 albums is a lot to study.
He added that there is still time for Northeastern students to register for the course.
This week Harvard University announced it will offer a course on Swift called “Taylor Swift and Her World.” The Boston Globe states that the course will begin in the spring semester of 2024 and, similar to the Northeastern course, will study artist songwriting. It also explores Swift's “fan culture.”
Berklee College of Music students also took a class in the fall exploring Swift's discography. Outside of Boston, several schools have or plan to introduce courses that explore Swift's career and global influence.