Beyonce Knowles is probably one of the most sensational celebrities right now. Every album released, every music video, every concert and almost everything about her is watched out for by millions of fans in the world. And now, it seems like students will get their fill of Beyonce in the classroom, too.
The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University now offers an academic course called “Feminist Perspectives: Politicizing Beyonce.” College students at the university can take this course during Spring and is being taught by PhD candidate Kevin Allred.
“This isn’t a course about Beyonce’s political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend,” Allred said to the Rutgers Today. “Rather, the performer’s music and career are used as lenses to explore American race, gender and sexual politics.”
Allred combines his lectures with music from the “Drunk in Love” singer. Students will be analyzing the lyrics and music videos of Beyonce. Aside from that, their discussions will be supplemented from other pioneers of the black feminist movement such as Alice Walker and Sojourner Truth. Allred aims to teach students how to develop critical thinking when it comes to media consumption.
“It is important to shift students away from simply being consumers of media toward thinking more critically about what they’re engaging on a regular basis,” he said.
Allred’s interest on Beyonce started after listening to B’Day, Beyonce’s second solo album. According to Allred, he was amazed by the singer’s total creative control beyond the raw quality of technical production. Currently, Allred is completing his dissertation which examines the techniques of how black female singers manipulate their vocal qualities.
Aside from Politicizing Beyonce, Rutgers also offers a class on the theology behind the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen.
Another university course that examines pop culture would be “The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Urban Theodicy of Jay-Z” which is offered in Georgetown University.
