Higher Learning: Major University Offers Beyoncé Course

Beyoncé is one of the world’s most accomplished stars and now her career as become the subject of school work. Earlier this week, New Jersey based Rutgers Univeristy announced that the 32-year-old star will be the subject of a new course. ‘Polarizing Beyonce‘ will highlight her music and career by exploring American race, gender, and sexual politics. Beyoncé’s music videos and lyrics with also be paired with readings from the Black feminists including the writings of bell hooks, Alice Walker, and abolitionist Sojourner Truth. The class will also examine her control over her image and aesthetic. Doctoral student/lecturer for the women’s department, Kevin Allred, who is teaching the class explained,

This isn’t a course about Beyoncé’s political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend. She certainly pushes boundaries. While other artists are simply releasing music, she’s creating a grand narrative around her life, her career, and her persona.

He continued:

It’s important to shift students away from simply being consumers of media toward thinking more critically about what they’re engaging on a regular basis.

Mrs. Carter joins a list of elite.

Georgetown University offered, ‘The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Theodicy of Jay-Z‘, Harvard University offers the Nasir Jones Hip Hop Fellowship on rapper Nas and last week the University of Missouri announced a class based on the relationship between Kanye West and Jay Z. In the past courses have been offered on Lady Gaga, Madonna, Marvin Gaye and Tupac Shakur.

[Associated Press, Rutgers, Instagram]

-@missjohnsonp_