Yale University will offer a Beyoncé course next year

WASHINGTON, DC – A professor of African American studies at Yale University will turn her attention to this Beyonce next semester.

Titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music,” Daphne Brooks said the one-point class will focus on the period from her 2013 self-titled album through the “Cowboy Carter” album this year and how the famous singer, songwriter and entrepreneur has generated awareness and commitment to social and political ideologies.

Brooks said she plans to use the artist’s broad repertoire, including footage of her live performances, as a “portal” for students to learn more about black intellectuals from Frederick Douglass to Toni Morrison.

“We’re going to take 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 think 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 told The Associated Press.

Brooks previously taught a well-received class on black women in popular music culture at Princeton University and found that her students were most enthusiastic about the section devoted to Beyoncé.

The pop superstar has a record 99 Grammy nominations and is hailed as one of the most influential artists in music history.

But Beyoncé isn’t the first artist to take a college-level course.

University courses on Taylor Swift, Rick Ross

South Dakota law professor Sean Kammer turned his attention Taylor Swift for his legal writing course last year.

The self-described ‘Swiftie’ said his course would use art and its music to help his students rethink legal language and craft persuasive arguments.

RELATED: From Taylor Swift to Rick Ross: pop culture courses attract new groups of law students

“The response from the students was exciting,” he said. “If we can have fun while exploring some of these complex theoretical problems or issues, I think students will be inspired to think more deeply and push themselves further.”

Meanwhile, students at the Georgia State University College of Law were scrambling to get to class every day — especially on Tuesday when they heard directly from Rick Ross for the final day of a course exploring the legal intricacies of the rapper, record executive, were described. and the life of the Wingstop franchise owner.

Moraima “Mo” Ivory, director of the school’s entertainment, sports and media law program, wanted her students to see for themselves what’s in the albums, television shows and movies they enjoy. She chooses a star each year and invites guest speakers from their world, along with the title character herself, to bring legal deals, defenses and drama to life.

“We are talking about crucial legal principles, but we are watching them as they happen and as they happened,” she said. “For law students, the light basically just goes on.”