Harvard To Offer Taylor Swift Course Next Year: Here's What The Class Is About

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 or Taylor Swift fan, 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."

Literary works used by the singer on her songs, including novels, memoirs and poems by the likes of Willa Cather's "The Song of the Lark," James Weldon Johnson's "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" and works by Tracey Thorn and William Wordsworth, will be read and discussed in the course as well.

In an interview with The Harvard Crimson published on Nov. 9, Professor Burt said that Taylor's lyrics are "an open invitation to cultural touchstones" like English romantic poet William Wordsworth, highlighting a line from Taylor's song "The Lakes" saying, "tell me what are my Wordsworth."

According to Burt, it's as if Taylor's lyrics are encouraging the reading of American literary works to be better understood.

"Taylor Swift and Her World" will also include a study on fan culture, celebrity culture and the literary and poetic influences of Swift in writing her songs.

Aside from Taylor's music, the shifts in American culture and politics through the lens of Taylor's career will also be discussed and analyzed, especially because the singer has been known for championing and influencing different campaigns, including women's and LGBTQ+ rights and the #MeToo movement.

"We are lucky enough to be living in a time when one of our major artists is also one of the most famous people on the planet. Why would you not have a course on that?" Burt said.

Aside from Harvard University, New York University, University of Texas in Austin, Berklee College of Music, University of Florida and Rice University in Houston also offer Swiftie courses, per Page Six.

In other news, Taylor Swift just finished her scheduled "The Eras Tour" concerts for 2023. She will be taking a short winter break before resuming her world tour in February 2024 in Japan.

"The Eras Tour," which kicked off in March 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, is set to conclude in December 2024 in Canada.