Taylor Swift and Millennial America

Whether you identify as a Swiftie or are simply Swift-curious, it is impossible to deny that Taylor Swift has become a cultural, economic, and political powerhouse.

This course will be an academic Eras Tour: we will take a historical approach to Swift’s career by placing her in the context of the 20th- and 21st-century United States.

We will explore the forces that enabled her rise to superstardom as well as those that shape her loyal millennial fanbase.

Topics include the politics of country music; race and class dynamics in American suburbia; the roles of globalization and technology in the rapidly changing music industry; feminist readings and feminist critiques of Swift’s career; growing political polarization; and the attempts of various communities, including Gaylors and the alt-right, to claim Swift as their own.