Lyrics and literature: Taylor Swift themed course at USF connects pop culture and poetry

TAMPA, Fla. - Three professors at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus are connecting pop culture and poetry in their classrooms.

"The idea came when I was having lunch with my colleagues Emily Jones and Michelle Taylor, and we were talking about the Taylor Swift album Red and the placement of a specific song on that album," shared Jessica Cook, an associate professor of instruction at USF. "We both had different arguments for our ways of interpreting it, and we joked that our students could do this."

PREVIOUS: Taylor Swift course being offered at USF during fall semester

Cook says the course LIT3301: Cultural Studies and Popular Art has always featured pop culture. During the upcoming fall semester, students will have the chance to take a section of the class subtitled, "Taylor Swift's Eras."

"Other faculty have taught the class around Harry Potter, adaptations of Jane Austen, monsters in fiction, that kind of thing. So it's very much a class that is about pop culture," added Cook.

Emily Jones is also an associate professor of English at the university. She’s a self-proclaimed "Swiftie" and says that the singer-songwriter’s work is an example of love poetry.

"I've often found that she's a good touchpoint in my other classes," said Jones. "She's a way that students can kind of relate to and connect with that earlier poetry.

The team of educators plan to use Swift's lyrics as the text for the course and discuss the artist as a "pop culture phenomenon." The trio says they will listen to Swift’s latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department" and incorporate her newest verses into the course that’s already full months in advance.

READ: Taylor Swift class to be offered at a Florida university this fall

"The fact that she seems to represent so many different things for so many different people in and of itself means that she is worth studying as a cultural phenomenon," argued Michelle Taylor, an associate professor of instruction.

Taylor says that students will all meet together on Tuesdays, and then on Thursdays, they will meet with one professor individually in smaller groups for more discussion.

According to Jones, modern music is a continuation of traditional poetry that's been taught for centuries.

"I do think that the Taylor Swift course gives us a great opportunity to keep expanding into the world of music. I would love to see us go beyond Taylor Swift and offer the same class as, of course, on like rap music or hip-hop," shared Jones.

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