CURIOSITIES

Courses on musicians: singers who can be "studied" at university

Who says that university is only dedicated to classical studies? 

Around the world, but particularly in the United States, many prestigious universities have created examination courses dedicated to singers or bands, whether from the pop or rock world.

Obviously, these are not courses of study based on the biography of the artists, but they are studied in relation to the many aspects of which they are protagonists, from sociology to economics to the art of film and fashion.

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The singers to whom they have dedicated university courses are many
Who says that university is only dedicated to classical studies? Around the world, but particularly in the United States, many prestigious universities have created examination courses dedicated to singers, both from the pop and rock worlds. Obviously, these are not courses based on the biography of the artists, but they are studied in relation to the many aspects of which they are protagonists, from sociology to economics to art and fashion.
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Harry Styles
In 2022, Texas State University announced the course 'Harry Styles and the Cult of Celebrity: Identity, the Internet and European Pop Culture' for the following spring. Analysing the figure of the former One Direction member, the course aims to understand the cultural and political development of modern celebrity in relation to aspects such as social media and the web.
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Kanye West
There are no less than three study courses dedicated to the rapper: the first was created in 2015 by Georgia State University, the second was created in 2017 at Washington University in St. Louis, and the third is held at Concordia University in Montreal. The latter course aims at analysing the modern art world precisely through the study of Kanye West, one of the most influential artists of recent generations.
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Miley Cyrus
The course on Miley Cyrus was born in 2014 at Skidmore College in New York as part of sociology, and its name is "The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media." As the name suggests, the lectures focus on social aspects, in particular the ways in which the female pop star (and her body) is represented by the media and the public today according to ethnicity, but also according to sexuality and social background.
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Rihanna
A course is dedicated to Rihanna in collaboration with her colleague Beyoncé: "Beyoncé Feminism, Rihanna Womanism." Organized by the University of Texas at Austin, this course examines the history of the two female artists and how they both relate to the principles of African American feminists.
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Beyoncé
In addition to the aforementioned course shared with Rihanna in Texas, Beyoncé can also boast a lecture series dedicated to her at Arizona State University, the University of Copenhagen, and California Polytechnic State University.
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Jay-Z
Like his wife Beyoncé, Jay-Z also finds space at university, specifically at Georgetown University: here, Professor Michael Eric Dyson has organised a lecture series called 'Sociology of Hip-Hop: Jay-Z'. In the past, Professor Dyson had also conducted courses on Tupac and Marvin Gaye.
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David Bowie
The University of Southern Maine investigated with its alumni the cultural role of an eclectic artist like David Bowie, analysing his career between art and pop. This interesting course was called 'Phenomenology of Performance'.
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Taylor Swift
In 2022, the Clive Davis Institute at New York University introduced a course on the singer who has achieved so much, and not only in the field of music. The interesting lectures focus on Swift's evolution as a creative music entrepreneur: in this way, the course aims to analyse the culture of pop music, with a focus on racial and gender issues.
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Lana del Rey
New York University's Clive Davis Institute has also created a lecture series on Lana del Rey in 2022. The course is called 'Topics in Recorded Music: Lana Del Rey' and examines many aspects of the artist's public life, from feminism to her musical influences to her connection to social justice movements.
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Bruce Springsteen
Rutgers University is the university in New Jersey, the American state where The Boss is from. For this reason, Rutgers has created the course 'The Theology of Bruce Springsteen', which takes a theologically oriented approach to the lyrics of the rocker's songs, comparing the lyrics themselves to the themes dealt with in the Bible.
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Lady Gaga
At the University of South Carolina, it was possible to study a course called 'Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame'. The course aimed to study the pop star's social phenomenon and influence on the community through the analysis of her music, her video clips and even her way of dressing.
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