The Taylor Swift craze has officially hit classrooms in the heart of the Philippine capital. The University of the Philippines has introduced a celebrity studies course focused on the global pop sensation, attracting over 300 eager students who quickly filled up the limited available slots. Such was the demand that the university had to add an extra class to accommodate the overwhelming interest.
Led by Professor Cherish Brillon from the broadcast communications department, the course plans to explore Taylor Swift’s impact on global pop culture through various lenses, including the intersection of sex, gender, and class. As a self-proclaimed “Swiftie” herself, Professor Brillon expressed excitement about delving into media portrayals of Swift and examining how she is perceived in the Philippines as a “transnational” figure.
The classroom atmosphere is buzzing with enthusiasm, with some two dozen students proudly displaying Swift merchandise and adorning their notebooks and laptops with stickers featuring the 14-time Grammy Award winner. One student named Shyne, a dedicated “Swiftie” since grade school, expressed the desire to explore societal issues connected to Taylor Swift in greater depth through the course.
Interestingly, this trend is not unique to the Philippines. In the United States, prestigious universities such as Harvard, Stanford, and Berklee College of Music have previously offered courses on Taylor Swift, covering topics ranging from her songwriting skills to literary analyses of her discography.
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