Stanford University is planning to offer a new course through the English department next spring called “The Last Great American Songwriter: Storytelling With Taylor Swift Through the Eras,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ava Jeffs, a college sophomore studying computer science, would lead the class as part of Stanford’s Student Initiated Course program, which gives a handful of undergraduate students the opportunity to teach classes every quarter.
“‘It’s been a long time coming,’ to quote Taylor Swift,” Jeffs said. “I could have a minor in Taylor Swift studies, honestly, at the end of this.”
A devoted “Swiftie” for as long as she can remember, Jeffs wrote her college application essay on the subject of Taylor Swift’s song “Clean.” After she was admitted to Stanford, Jeffs wrote her first paper on Swift’s songs about mental health.
“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,” Jeffs told The Mercury News. “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.”
A handful of other universities have introduced classes about Swift, including: Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, the University of Texas at Austin, and New York University, which awarded Swift an honorary degree last year. Swift will end the national leg of her “Eras” tour in Inglewood, California this August.
