University of The Philippines To Offer ‘In Depth’ Course On Taylor Swift

The University of the Philippines' College of Mass Communication announced Thursday that it will offer a Special Topics in Broadcasting class centered on American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.

Per the announcement, the course, titled "Celebrity Studies: Taylor Swift in Focus," will be available in the second semester of A.Y. 2023-2024 and handled by associate professor Cherish Aileen Brillon, Ph.D.

Brillon, who is also a self-proclaimed Swiftie -- Taylor Swift fan -- shared in an interview with PhilSTAR L!fe that the elective under BA Broadcast Media Arts and Studies will focus on "the conception, construction and the performance of Taylor Swift as a celebrity and how she can be used to explain our and, of course, media's relationship with class, politics, gender, race and fantasies of success and mobility."

Noting that courses about Taylor Swift abroad are mostly literary or from a business perspective, Brillon shared that it's time to look at the pop icon in an in-depth manner in the Philippines.

The associate professor also shared that she's interested in discovering how Filipinos have taken Taylor "not only as [a] transnational icon but also as a signifier of an emerging type of local fandom activism." 

Meanwhile, following Taylor's course is a study on SB19. It will also be part of UP's celebrity-centric courses, per ABS-CBN. More information about the study on the P-Pop group is yet to be announced.

"For this semester, we are trying to introduce a series of courses that focus on celebrity studies but as experienced and defined in the Philippines," said Professor Alwin Aguirre, chair of UP Department of Broadcast Communication. 

Abroad, Taylor Swift courses are offered at New York University, the University of Texas, Arizona State University, Stanford University and Harvard University.

Per Page Six, the courses have also been offered at Berklee College of Music, the University of Florida and Rice University in Houston.

Last November, it was announced that an English course titled "Taylor Swift and Her World" will be offered at Harvard University for the spring 2024 semester.

Per the course's description on Harvard University's official website, it will be taught by instructor Stephanie L. Burt, a diehard Swiftie, every Monday and Wednesday from 12 to 1:15 p.m. Location is to be determined.

The course will "move through Swift's own catalog, including hits, deep cuts, outtakes, re-recordings, considering songwriting as its own art, distinct from poems recited or silently read."

In other news, Swift was named Time's Person of the Year for 2023. Per the magazine, the Person of the Year "springs from the Great Man Theory of history," a belief that individuals have the power to transform society.

Explaining why Taylor was chosen the previous year, Time said that she "found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light."