US institution offers a literary course examining Taylor Swift’s lyrics alongside old poems


I stay up too late, got nothing on my mind, she memorably sang once.

But University of Texas at Austin students studying Taylor Swift’s songs in a ground-breaking new literary course alongside other cultural titans William Shakespeare and John Keats would be well to avoid following in her footsteps.

Undergraduates will be able to fulfil their Wildest Dreams in the new course, The Taylor Swift Songbook, which examines the pop star’s songwriting as part of its liberal arts curriculum.

Swift’s lyrics, according to English professor Elizabeth Scala, can shed light on literary devices used in traditional poetry.

The popular and award-winning author uses the same literary strategies, figures, and tropes of traditional poetry in her work, she explained. “This is a course on her songs as literary writing.” It is not about fame or celebrity.

“They’ll be expected to examine and contextualise typical behaviours and issues throughout eras.”

Last spring, a Swift-themed class at New York University received a lot of attention, especially when the international sensation delivered the graduating address.

Scala, a self-described “Swiftie,” claimed she wanted to use contemporary culture to introduce traditional poetry and prose to young people.

She explained: “I want to take what Swift fans can already do at a sophisticated level, tease it out for them a little with a different vocabulary, and then show them how, in fact, Swift draws on richer literary traditions in her songwriting, both topically but also formally in terms of how she uses references, metaphors, and cunning wordplay.”

The professor has already created an Instagram account where he will reveal facts about the singer.

Swift’s most recent albums will receive the most of the class’s attention, but other music by the singer is also fair game for discussion.

They will also look at other gender-related concepts including the interaction between fans and artists.

It’s not the first time a well-known cultural icon has inspired an unconventional college course.

The same university offered a course on black feminism in 2015 called Beyoncé Feminism, Rihanna Womanism.

Texas State University will provide students with a course on Harry Styles the following year.


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