With a record 99 Grammy nominations and acclaim as one of the most influential artists in music history, pop superstar Beyonce and her expansive cultural legacy will be the subject of a new course at Yale University next year.
Titled "Beyonce Makes History Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory Politics Through Music," the one-credit class will focus on the period from her 2013 self-titled album through this year's genre-defying "Cowboy Carter" and how the world-famous singer, songwriter and entrepreneur has generated awareness and engagement in social and political ideologies.
Yale University's African American Studies Professor Daphne Brooks intends to use the performer's wide-ranging repertoire, including footage of her live performances, as a "portal" for students to learn about Black intellectuals, from Frederick Douglass to Toni Morrison.
"We're going to be taking seriously the ways in which the critical work, the intellectual work of some of our greatest thinkers in American culture resonates with Beyonce's music and thinking about the ways in which we can apply their philosophies to her work" and how it has sometimes been at odds with the "Black radical intellectual tradition," Brooks said.
Beyonce, whose full name is Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter, is not the first performer to be the subject of a college-level course. There have been courses on singer and songwriter Bob Dylan over the years and several colleges and universities have recently offered classes on singer Taylor Swift and her lyrics and pop culture legacy. That includes law professors who hope to engage a new generation of lawyers by using a famous celebrity like Swift to bring context to complicated, real-world concepts.
