New Swiftie Class Draws Statewide Attention

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor

Professor Carenen, chair of the History Department, has taught a lot of different classes over her time at Eastern. In the past she’s taught classes on US policy in the Middle East, History Professionalization, Early American history, and the history of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, among others. But this semester, she’s teaching something a little different. 

‘The Power of Taylor Swift’ is an LAC-200 class, meaning a class largely intended for first-year students in order to provide them with a balanced ‘liberal arts curriculum’. The class uses the topic of Taylor Swift to explore multiple interdisciplinary topics, including the psychology of fandom, the economics of Taylor Swift’s personal fortune (now estimated to be over $2 billion), her effects on the LGBTQ+ community, and others.

The class attracted a lot of positive feedback from Eastern students. The first section of twenty students filled up, requiring another one to be made which currently has just one spot left open. Both sections run Monday/Wednesday/Friday, the first from 1-1:50, and the second from 2-2:50. But Eastern students weren’t the only ones finding the class interesting.

Statewide news agencies like NBC-CT and WTNH News-8 reported on the class, along with smaller publications like the Bristol Press. The class even drew attention from Connecticut politicians. Governor Ned Lamont, State Senator Mae Flexer, and interim CSCU Chancellor John Maduko joined Eastern’s President Karim Ismaili to visit the class earlier this month. 

The class comes as part of a national trend, with universities teaching complex topics through the stories of international celebrities. This fall, students at Yale were able to take “Bad Bunny: Musical Aesthetics and Politics”, a class with particular relevance now as Bad Bunny enters the national limelight over discussions of his Super Bowl Halftime Show. 

Other students in Connecticut may be able to experience similar classes soon. Sara Baker Bailey, a Communications professor at Southern, is planning her own class on Swift to start this October. The class covers topics such as interpersonal relationships, a topic particularly relevant with the announcement of Swift’s recent engagement to NFL player Travis Kelce.

The fresh topic proved interesting to Professor Carenen, whose usual academia lies in the realm of foreign policy and events in the Middle East. “For me, it’s a fun challenge to take on something that’s different,” she said. “I’m not relying on my area of expertise at all,” she said.

For those who would be interested in the class, however, be warned. Professor Carenen says it isn’t just an ‘easy A’.