Following in the footsteps of a number of schools that have introduced Taylor Swift-focused classes to the curriculum, Indiana University Bloomington is going a step further: This fall, it’s hosting an entire academic conference dedicated to the superstar.
The school’s Gayle Karch Cook Center for Public Arts and Humanities will host Taylor Swift: The Conference Era from November 3 to 5. Scholars and fans will be discussing and analyzing Taylor’s nearly two-decade impact on the music industry.
Among the topics that will be discussed: Taylor’s songwriting craft, her fandom, her fashions, her Easter eggs, her genre blending, her artistic evolution and where she stands in the intersections of gender, sexuality and politics.
As the school puts it, “This conference seeks gather Swifties and Swifty-adjacent thinkers” to “discuss and analyze Taylor Swift’s impact during yet another peak in her extensive and iconic career.”
In February 2022, New York University’s Clive Davis Institute offered a course on Taylor; this winter, Stanford University will host “All Too Well (10 Week Version),” a class devoted to an in-depth analysis of Taylor’s number-one hit from Red (Taylor’s Version).
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