Stanford University Introduces Course on Singer Taylor Swift

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posted on 1 year ago — updated on 1 second ago

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The new course on Swift will differ from other courses – students will only be rated as “satisfactory” or “non-satisfactory”, and these grades will have no bearing on their Grade Point Average (GPAs)

Swifties, Rejoice! Taylor Swift’s fans now have a reason to celebrate. Stanford University is now offering a course titled, ‘The Last Great American Songwriter: Storytelling with Taylor Swift Through the Eras,’ according to a report on messenger.com. The new course was introduced by a student named Ava Jeffs as part of the school’s student-initiated course programme.

While speaking with The Mercury News, Jeffs informed how the course will benefit students. “The whole goal of the class is to dive into the art of songwriting, exploring the interplay between literary references and lyricism and storytelling in Taylor Swift’s entire discography, taking it one album at a time and trying to look at the evolution of using songwriting as a narrative form. It will draw parallels to classic works of literature and poetry in each album and gain a deeper understanding of the narrative power of music,” Jeffs said.

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Interestingly, the new course will be the university’s second Swift-inspired programme. Students at the institution were offered a course named – All Too Well (Ten Week Version) earlier this year. It was inspired by Swift’s All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) song.

According to Stanford spokesperson Luisa Rapport, a limited number of Student Initiated Courses are offered each quarter. These courses fall under the category of ‘activity courses’ and allow students to explore their interests and seek enrichment. Reports indicate that Professor Mark McGurl from Stanford University will be responsible for overseeing academic integrity and grading for the newly introduced course.

Prior to this, a course on Swift’s career was also launched at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute in February 2022. That same year, the singer gave a commencement speech at NYU’s graduation. Apart from Taylor Swift, a course on Beyonce, Lady Gaga and David Beckham are currently being taught in some of the prestigious universities around the world.