NYU Course Using Taylor Swift Music to Teach Students About ‘Whiteness’ and ‘American Nationalism’
“whiteness and power as it relates to her image and the images of those who have both preceded and succeeded her”
This sounds like parody, but it’s completely real.
Campus Reform reports:
Instructor makes Taylor Swift music course about race
New York University is using Taylor Swift to teach students about Whiteness and “American nationalism.”
This semester, students at the university’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music are taking a class on the music star. But according to the course description, which Variety obtained, the class has a political focus.
“Through readings, lectures and more, the class delves into analyses of the culture and politics of teen girlhood in pop music, fandom, media studies, whiteness and power as it relates to her image and the images of those who have both preceded and succeeded her,” the course description reads.
In addition to learning practical topics such as copyright and ownership, students will also get a taste of “American nationalism and the ongoing impact of social media on the pop music industry.”
The course instructor is Brittany Spanos, a journalist at Rolling Stone who spoke with the student publication NYU Local.
“My own experience in classrooms teaching about white artists and white cultural figures is that race is often absent from those conversations,” Spanos told the outlet.
Spanos had announced her spring 2022 course on Twitter last November.
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You don’t Bno Diddley.
Is the course pro-Bono?
“My own experience in classrooms teaching about white artists and white cultural figures is that annoying irrelevant black issues are often absent from those conversations,” Spanos told the outlet.