With a record 99 Grammy nominations and acclaim as one of the most influential artists in music history, pop superstar Beyoncé and her expansive cultural legacy will be the subject of a new course at Yale University next year, the AP reports. Titled "Beyoncé 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 Beyoncé'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.
Beyoncé is not the first performer to be the subject of a college-level course. There have been courses on Bob Dylan over the years and several colleges and universities have recently offered classes on Taylor Swift. Brooks sees Beyoncé in a league of her own, crediting the singer with using her platform to "spectacularly elevate awareness of and engagement with grassroots, social, political ideologies, and movements," including the Black Lives Matter movement and Black feminist commentary. "Can you think of any other pop musician who's invited an array of grassroots activists to participate in these longform multimedia album projects that she's given us since 2013?" asked Brooks.
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