Have a Blank Space in your schedule? USC is offering a new Taylor Swift course
Never in our “Wildest Dreams” did we think Taylor Swift would end up in the course catalog at the University of South Carolina. Are you “Ready For It?”
Starting next semester, the class entitled “Life is Just a Classroom: Taylor’s Version,” will explore the pop star’s rise to success in the music industry. Students will delve into Swift’s career and community-building, according to the syllabus, including her music catalog and music ownership, ticketing and the concert experience.
Like millions of music fans, USC adjunct instructor Kate Blanton attempted to land a ticket for Swift’s “Eras Tour,” last fall, to no avail. Buying tickets via Ticketmaster was such a fiasco that it landed the company in hot water, the Associated Press reported, and prompted a federal investigation.
But as fate would have it, a friend had an extra ticket for Swift’s stop in Cincinnati over the summer, and it launched her into one of the biggest fandoms in music.
Once a casual listener, Blanton said she’s been a “Swiftie” ever since.
“I really started leaning into the concert experience and how it felt to be there, meeting new people and joining the fan community,” Blanton said. “So, I got the idea for this course.”
While many current Swift classes are literary, with a focus on her songwriting and lyrics, Blanton saw an opportunity to study the artist through the lens of consumer science and the consumer experience.
From re-recording and releasing her own material, to her die-hard fans, Swift is a case study for success.
“Her business acumen and agency as a woman in the industry is what makes her an icon,” Blanton said.
Experts say that Swift stands to make as much as $4.1 billion from the Eras Tour by the time it concludes in 2024. The accompanying film is already the most profitable concert movie in history after its October release, according AMC Theatres Distribution.
“We’re not just going to sit around and listen to Taylor Swift and make friendship bracelets. This is a very academically robust course,” Blanton said, though friendship bracelets may still happen.
Swift is merely a jumping-off point for students to better grasp industry standards for artist ownership and representation, brand development, merchandising and corporate partnerships in the music world.
“One of the things that makes learning personal and makes learning last ... is to make connections between the concepts students are learning and their real lives,” Blanton said. “I want them to use the foundational knowledge they have to apply it to something they care about.”
USC joins a growing list of schools offering classes on Swift, who has been a mainstay of the American music scene for more than 15 years. New York University, the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford University and Arizona State University already offer a Taylor Swift class. In November, Ivy League giant Harvard University announced a Swift class too.
The 40-seat special topics course in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management, is only available to upperclassmen, and has already been filled for the spring of 2024. But its future is bright.
“Depending on how it goes, we may do it every semester,” Blanton said. “I think it’s one of those things where the demand will always be there.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2023 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Have a Blank Space in your schedule? USC is offering a new Taylor Swift course."
