Related Articles
College professors are using the careers and lives of celebrities in their teachings.
College courses based on celebrities aren’t exactly a new idea. More commonly in recent years, college professors have put together their own unique courses revolving around a particular celebrity.
Taylor Swift, for example, has had numerous college classes focused around her lyrics, songs, fandom and overall fame.
From left: Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift are among the stars who have been the inspiration for college courses around the country. (Timothy Norris/FilmMagic| Dave J Hogan/Getty Images | John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, SPIKE LEE AND MORE CELEBS WHO HAVE TAUGHT COLLEGE CLASSES
Harry Styles is another who has been studied by college students.
Take a look at 10 celebrities who have had college classes taught about them.
Taylor SwiftHarry StylesLana Del ReyNicki MinajJay-ZBeyoncéBruce SpringsteenMiley CyrusLady GagaMichael Jackson
1. Taylor Swift
With Swift’s immense fame, it comes as no surprise that she has been the topic of conversation in not one or two, but a handful of college courses across the country over the past few years.
One example was a course called “Psychology of Taylor Swift — Advanced Topics of Social Psychology,” that was offered at Arizona State University.
The course was taught by psychologist Alexandra Wormley and involved examining albums with connections to psychology.
TAYLOR SWIFT COURSE AT HARVARD WILL USE MUSIC TO EXPLORE RACE, CLASS AND ‘WHITE AMERICANNESS’
“The course is basically using Taylor Swift as a semester-long example of different phenomena — gossip, relationships, revenge,” said Wormley, per the Arizona State University website, when the course was announced in 2023. She also emphasized that “the class is not a seminar on how much we like or dislike her — we want to be able to learn about psychology.”
College students around the country have taken notes in class on the career of Taylor Swift. (Marcelo Endelli/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
The University of Texas at Austin offered a Swift-centered class in 2022 called “The Taylor Swift Songbook.” The course was taught by Elizabeth Scala.
“Students in the course will study Swift’s songs alongside the traditional canon of Western literature: Shakespeare, Keats, and Frost,” Scala said in the university’s release about the course. “They’ll be asked to analyze and contextualize common practices and problems across the centuries.”
Harvard University and New York University’s Clive Davis Institute have also offered courses on Swift.
2. Harry Styles
The former boyband member has continued to achieve global success throughout his career as a solo artist.
Styles’ career was examined further in the course titled “Harry Styles and the Cult of Celebrity: Identity, the Internet and European Pop Culture,” offered at Texas State University.
The class was announced for spring 2023, with Dr. Louie Dean Valencia as its professor.
3. Lana Del Rey
Students at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute got the opportunity to study Lana Del Rey.
The university announced the class “Topics in Recorded Music: Lana Del Rey,” in September 2022.
Shortly following NYU’s Taylor Swift course, a Lana Del Rey class was introduced. (Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)
This class followed the Swift course taught at the university earlier in the year.
4. Nicki Minaj
At University of California, Berkeley, students had the opportunity to enroll in “Black Barbie Femmecee & Hip-Hop Feminisms,” about Nicki Minaj.
The course was offered during the 2023 spring semester.
The class, focused on the hip-hop star, was offered through the African American Studies Department.
5. Jay-Z
Back in 2011, Georgetown University offered a Jay-Z-centered course.
The class was titled “Sociology of Hip-Hop: Jay-Z.”
The course was taught by Michael Eric Dyson. One required text for those who were enrolled in the class was Jay-Z’s book “Decoded.”
6. Beyoncé
The second half of the Hollywood power couple, Beyoncé, was also the focus of a college course.
15 OF THE WILDEST, WACKIEST COLLEGE CLASSES TAUGHT IN AMERICA TODAY
Rutgers University offered a class for students called “Politicizing Beyoncé.”
Beyoncé and Jay-Z have both had college courses taught about them. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100)
Kevin Allred created the class about the “Single Ladies” singer in 2010.
7. Bruce Springsteen
Another previous celeb course offered at Rutgers University was “Bruce Springsteen’s Theology.”
Springsteen, who is a New Jersey native, had his song lyrics examined throughout this course.
Bruce Springsteen is the focal point of a course at Rutgers University. ( Lorne Thomson/Redferns)
When the class was introduced in 2013, the description highlighted that it would look into “Springsteen’s reinterpretation of biblical motifs, the possibility of redemption by earthly means (women, cars, music) and his interweaving of secular and sacred elements.”
8. Miley Cyrus
Skidmore College in New York offered a course in 2014 about Miley Cyrus.
The special topics course was titled “The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media,” and was taught by Carolyn Chernoff.
MILEY CYRUS RELATES TO DOLLY PARTON’S STANCE ON NEVER HAVING CHILDREN
At the time the class was announced, Chernoff told TODAY.com that it would provide “a better understanding of the way we see social problems play out through mass media, the way even trivial things, like entertainment, reflect larger cultural conflicts, on race, class and social inequality.”
9. Lady Gaga
Back in 2010, a course about Lady Gaga was offered at the University of South Carolina called “Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame.”
The course description of the class read, “The central objective is to unravel some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga,” per The New York Times.
Lady Gaga was the subject of a college course offered at the University of South Carolina. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
The class was taught by Mathieu Deflem, a sociology professor and longtime Gaga fan.
10. Michael Jackson
Professors who teach college courses about celebrities pull from all different aspects of the stars’ lives for their teachings.
“Michael Jackson: The Business of Music” was an MBA-level class at Clark Atlanta University.
This course had a primary focus on the business workings of Jackson, rather than his music alone.
The curriculum included topics like “how he negotiated and his tours, record deals, merchandising, to how he revolutionized legal practices related to entertainment copyrights, trademarks, licenses and more,” People reported.
Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital.
