I have to admit, I saw this come across my newsfeed the other day and then on social media but I brushed past it initially because I assumed it was probably just satire. Or something.
It wasn’t.
Apparently there will be a summer course on Miley Cyrus at Skidmore College, titled “The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media.”
From The Saratogian:
Skidmore College, whose slogan is “Creative thought matters,” will offer an innovative course this summer starring Miley Cyrus and all her incarnations as a way to study sociology.The course, called The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media, is a 251-level special topics course taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology Carolyn Chernoff. The professor encourages students to look past the colon in her course title and see what the class is really about.“I was teaching a course called Youth Culture in and out of School, and the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) became the twerk heard ’round the world,” Chernoff said. “I showed that video to my class, and the students had so much to say.”Cyrus became the opening personality in sociological discussion on gender, race, class, economic status, identity, fame, sexualization, oppression and power. And the singer kept on doing newsworthy things worth fitting into the larger analysis.In January, Chernoff delivered a lecture and mediated a group discussion on Cyrus and the cultural issues at the Skidmore Women’s Center. The lecture was called “The Rise and Fall of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media,” and students’ reaction was positive.
But Chernoff noted that twerking will not be a focus of the class. According to the Saratogian:
Lest such students think the course is all about watching the VMA video over and over, Chernoff said, “Sorry, dudes, but this is sociology. Learn to twerk on your own time.”
Read the whole article here.
[Featured image: MTV video]
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