Where you can learn about your favorite stars

The new school year has begun – and we will not say a word here about the breathing into a paper bag and obsessive reading of the news sites until the happy news – we are here to remind students who thought they would get a few more days off, that studies do not have to be monotonous, loaded with equations and more important dates or less. On the contrary, there are courses that people are dying to study – and the demand for them exceeds the supply. We are of course talking about the celeb studies.

Over the years, many celebrities have achieved such impressive achievements that they have left a mark, quite a few universities and schools around the world have chosen to teach them in their classrooms. Take a look at the flashiest courses you can study:

Taylor Swift She is one of the most successful singers in the world – and yet, she is also one who does not go down everyone’s throat. Journalist Brittany Spanos (“Rolling Stone”) created a course about the singer at New York University. “This course offers an understanding of the appeal and distaste for Taylor Swift through a close reading of her music and public discourse as it relates to her growth as an artist and celebrity,” reads the description of the course set last February.

During the course, the students learned about Swift’s music and the mark left by her career. “I hope to help students rethink how to interact with one of the biggest stars in the world,” Spanos said in an interview with Variety magazine. “It is a dream for me to lead a course by my favorite artist and it is a great honor to share my point of view with the students.”

In addition, the University of Austin in Texas allows students to study the songs of Taylor Swift alongside iconic literary works by Shakespeare, John Keats and Robert Frost. The university offers an undergraduate course under the name – “Taylor Swift’s Songbook” as part of the Arts Excellence Program. Elizabeth Scala, an English professor, told CNN that she chose Swift because she writes her own music and her lyrics can help illuminate similar techniques from classical poetry. “It boils down to her poems as literary writing and the ways in which a popular and award-winning poet uses the same literary devices as traditional poetry in her works.” During the course, the students will learn to analyze Swift’s poetry alongside works by literary greats.

Last July it was announced that Texas State University confirmed that one of the courses that will be offered to students in the spring of 2023 will deal withHarry Styles. Dr. Louis Dean Velenika, a professor at the university, shared the happy news on his Twitter page, jokingly writing: “This is what a ministry looks like.”

The professor also attached a poster for the new course, which states that it will “focus on the British musician Harry Styles and European popular culture to understand the cultural and political development of the modern celebrity as it relates to gender and sexuality, race, class, media, fashion, fans, culture and consumerism.”

The course, which was named “Harry Styles and the Cult of Celebrity: Identity, the Internet and European Pop Culture”, will teach students about Styles’ hits and their impact on the industry and will also address the question of gender and sexuality. “The way I like to describe the course is that it will really deal with the history of the last 12 years or so,” explained Dr. Velnicka.

It turns out that somewhere at the University of Georgia, a professor by the name of Scott Heath decided to teach a course on the work of Kanye West. The course, named Kanye Vs Everybody: Black Poetry, examines Kanye as an artist and as a public figure from his beginnings as an “outsider desperate to establish his place as the ultimate cultural ruler.” Heath also explained that Kanye is “among the most influential and dynamic public opinion thinkers today.” I wonder if he thinks that even after what West did toPete Davidson.

The course in question explores the rapper’s life through American poetry, but it doesn’t end there: “It’s also about the ways we use language, discuss language, think through language,” Heath explained, adding that other black public figures who used language in a similar way to Buying, for example – Muhammad Ali – Also spoken in the course. “Kanye really wants to control his image, his reputation, and that definitely bothers some people.” Well, we don’t want to sound critical, but we hope that there will be an updated version of the course in question.

Well, you’ll admit it was obvious, but in 2010, Professor Kevin Allred created an 11-session course at Rutgers University in New Jersey that was all aboutBeyoncé. The course dealt with the singer’s work using her artistry and personality as an access point to explore race, gender and sexuality through a program made up entirely of black feminists. The course encouraged students to explore the treatment of dark-skinned women through the modern interpretation of Beyoncé. “I wanted to teach a course based entirely on black feminism,” Allred told The Guardian. “There are many ways to study this topic but I thought that using Beyoncé would bring in a younger and more involved audience.”

Probably not surprisingly, the course on Beyoncé was one of the most sought after at the university and was filled to capacity every year. In 2014, the course was stopped: “I was told that because so many students wanted to take part in the course about Beyoncé – it affected other courses.”

Lorenza Jerez, a student at Rutgers University, argued that the administrators should look beyond the name of the course and recognize its importance: “I think the push for the course stems from ignorance – compared to what the class really provides. Some people may hear ‘a course about Beyoncé’ and roll their eyes, but her approach to feminism is accepted Better an artistic way that we all grow up with.”

In 2011, Professor Michael Eric Dyson decided Open an American sociology course on the rapper Jay Z. The course was conducted at Georgetown University in Washington. It is considered a resounding success and according to published data it attracted four times more students than the other courses offered at the university.

“The desire was to start a serious investigation into Jay-Z’s art,” Dyson explained in an interview with The Nation. “Behind the sexiness of Jay-Z, who became a billionaire and a cultural icon, I wanted to investigate what the hype around him was about.” The course was offered as part of the sociology studies at the university, and there were also sociologists who were happy about it. “Jay Z is one of the greatest artists, without a doubt. He is an excellent sociological subject for the course because it provides a great exposure to various musical influences,” asserted Dr. Zuleika Zavalos, but added: “And all this – a course that focuses only on him? Surely it will appeal to the students because it’s Jay-Z, a very, very popular artist. But is it enough for a whole course? It sounds like a fun topic to study, but not enough.”

Most of us never dreamed that part of our degree studies would include a course Miley Cyrus? Well, this dream was realized by the students of Skidmore College (New York) in 2014. The college came out with a new course with a seductive name – “The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media”, which dealt with Miley as “a lens through which to explore sociological thinking About identity, entertainment, communication and fame.”

“The class will use Cyrus’ public persona as a basis for discussion,” Professor Carolyn Chernoff explained to ABC News. “Much of what we know about Cyrus is based on a media reconstruction of who she really is.” Chernoff did not hold back and compared the course on Cyrus to that on Beyoncé: “Unfortunately, the way we talk about female pop stars, status and gender issues, sexuality and performance is important – but race is also very important and the way we talk about pop stars.” “To build” is very different from our way of talking about the bodies of the “colored” stars.

Chernoff also added that the course will explore Cyrus’ transition from “Hannah Montana” star to “pop icon” and how her performances on stage led to discussions around her sexuality.

In 2011, the University of South Carolina announced that it was opening a new sociology course dedicated to the life, work and publication of the pop star Lady Gaga. The course was taught by Professor Mathieu Deplam, a die-hard fan of the singer. “During the course, the students will learn to engage in correct and grounded academic thinking when it comes to Lady Gaga’s fame.”

“I’ve been to 30 Lady Gaga concerts,” Deplam told the university’s student newspaper, adding: “We’re going to learn about Gaga as a social event. It’s not the person and it’s not the music. It’s more the social thing, that she has millions of followers on social networks. She’s a phenomenon social”.

The brochure for the course states that it aims to “unravel some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of Lady Gaga’s fame as it relates to her music, videos, fashion and other art.”

Deplam added and said that his interest in the singer began in 2009, when he saw her perform for the first time. “I hope that the potential students of the course will be Lady Gaga fans to some extent. They don’t have to be die-hard fans. The biggest fan won’t necessarily be the best student. But they must be interested in the subject. Students who really don’t like the singer – probably shouldn’t be part of the course”.

And speaking of celebrities, let us go back a little in time to the 90s. In 1997 fifty students enrolled in the pop culture course at the University of Amsterdam. The course, which was 40 hours long, dealt with the one and only Queen, madonnaand researched what caused the dizzying success of the pop star.

“As a media phenomenon, it’s really intriguing,” said student Monique Tolk to the newspaper De Telegraf. During the course, the students examined the lyrics, Madonna’s voice, her participation in the cinema and also her being a sex symbol – alongside her religious beliefs.

After talking about the course that was held on the Queen of Pop – it only makes sense that we continue straight to the King of Pop. In 2012 Clark Atlanta University came out with a new course on the life of Michael Jackson. The course, named “Michael Jackson: The Business of Music,” examined the singer’s multi-billion dollar empire, his business, real estate and legal practices.

The university announced the course on August 29, 2012, the late singer’s birthday. “I read several mini-biographies of some of the greatest composers in the world. Many had lives immersed in controversies of one kind or another. It is impossible to escape the negativity, but in the course we will highlight Michael Jackson’s achievements in business,” explained Dr. Charles Moses.

Where you can learn about your favorite stars

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