The songs and personal life of Taylor Swift will be the subject of a psychology class at Arizona State University this fall
Arizona State University students can study the music and life of 33-year-old Taylor Swift for college credit.
The Psychology of Taylor Swift debuts this semester on campus in Tempe, Arizona.
The course is taught by a Ph.D. student Alexandra Wormley, who hopes to inspire meaningful conversations that lead students to advanced psychology concepts.
“The course basically uses Taylor Swift as an example of a semester of different freaks — gossip, relationships, revenge,” Wormley said, as news broke that the Snow on the Beach singer was earning $6 million a month from streaming his songs.
She was quick to add that “the course is not a seminar on how much we like it or dislike it – we want to be able to learn more about psychology.”
Swifties rejoice: Arizona State University students can listen to the music and study the life of Taylor Swift for college credit
The course started as a joke but quickly turned into an ingenious way to study the phenomena of social psychology, ASU News reported.
Shortly after the Lavender Haze singer’s concerts in Glendale, Ariz., in March, her research assistants joked that they’d like to take a class on Swift.
“I liked the idea and jokingly did a preview of what this kind of course might look like. I pitched it to my department and apparently they liked it,” Wormley explained.
And the route will be organized much like Swift’s Era’s Tour – each week will focus on a theme from one of the Anti-Hero singer’s albums.
Wormley will relate the theme to a social psychology topic. “We’ll be doing deep dives into very specific topics, so students have some expertise in each of those areas by the end of each week,” she said.
“I find this method of learning much more engaging than investigative courses that have to cover all topics in a semester.
When asked how she planned to exemplify the revenge theme, she replied, “Taylor’s sixth album, Reputation, is her comeback after disappearing from the spotlight due to disputes with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.” .
“She gets revenge on them – and the wider media landscape – by launching an incredibly successful album with a stadium tour.”
Too good: The psychology of Taylor Swift debuts this semester on campus in Tempe, Arizona
Blank space: The course is taught by a Ph.D. student Alexandra Wormley, who hopes to inspire meaningful conversations that lead students to advanced psychology concepts
Not a fan club meeting: ‘The course basically uses Taylor Swift as an example of a semester of different freaks – gossip, relationships, revenge,’ Wormley said
The theme will help students understand why the concept of revenge can be so compelling.
She continued, “But do they know why we love revenge?” Do they know how we enact revenge? Social psychology can tell us.
Wormley was quick to point out that the class won’t be “a three-hour fan club meeting” and she hopes someone who isn’t a fan of the Karma singer will take the class.
She hopes the course topic will allow students to “connect their course material to their own lives”, which research has proven to “increase comprehension and retention”.
