Photo courtesy of Angela Weiss
Is the following quote from world-renowned playwright William Shakespeare or Taylor Swift?
“Your touch brought forth an incandescent glow, tarnished but so grand.”
If your answer was Shakespeare, you’d be mistaken. It’s actually a lyric from Taylor Swift’s song, “Ivy.”
This might surprise many, but it’s just one of the many lyrics that a new course at St. Ambrose explores. While some SAU students head to biology or finance classes, a select few are walking into a classroom where Taylor Swift is the focus two days a week.
The course, titled “Literary Topics: Taylor Swift”, delves deep into the world of Swift’s lyrics and their connections to literary works. It’s an exploration that looks at the emotional resonance in her songs, and how these lyrics have made an impact, not just in pop culture, but in the world of literature as well.
SAU Associate English Professor also the faculty advisor for Quercus, Dr. Emily Kingery, says she created the course due to the emotional connection Taylor Swift evokes through song writing.
“We have a class, English-120, where we [faculty] can pick a topic for it.” Kingery says she thought the perfect topic for this class would be Taylor Swift. “I like Taylor Swift a lot, I feel like I’m the only faculty member who could probably be good for this kind of class,” she jokes.
The idea of a Taylor Swift course may seem new, but Kingery points out there’s “some precedent” for it. “Other universities have started teaching classes on Swift, some focusing on the music industry. I thought, ‘Why not take a literary approach to it?’”
Across the country, universities like Harvard, Stanford, and the University Of Iowa are offering their own versions of Swift-related classes.
For SAU junior Sara Gundacker, who shares a love for both Taylor Swift and literature, the course offers a rare opportunity to explore her passions in an academic setting. “I did think there would be fewer connections to Taylor Swift to the poems, but it’s nice we get to bring more academics to it,” she says.
Kingery emphasizes that literature is a constantly evolving art form. “It’s important to think about literature as something that is living and breathing—it’s always changing. This class gives students a chance to engage with different types of literature, all while having fun and diving deep into something they enjoy,” she says.
Each week, the course focuses on a different album, following Swift’s discography in chronological order, from her debut Taylor Swift to her most recent release The Tortured Poets Department. There’s even a dedicated week to the emotionally charged, ten-minute version of “All Too Well,” and a combining of Swift’s “sister albums,” Folklore and Evermore.
During the week, one day is focused on analyzing the lyrics from the assigned album, digging into their literary context and meaning. The class examines other works of literature that relate to the themes, imagery, or concepts from that week’s album.
Kingery explains, “We look at literature that either uses Taylor Swift’s work in some way or might have influenced her songs.” She adds that it’s largely a poetry-focused class, where students explore how poets interpret Swift’s songs through their own unique perspectives and vice versa.
SAU junior and Swift fan, Sydnie Offerman, says she is thrilled with the class. “I’ve always admired how Taylor Swift connects with her audience through her songwriting,” Offerman says. “I wanted to learn more about her creative process and explore deeper themes in her music.
“I was expecting this class to be a lot of listening to her music and picking apart her lyrics to understand the deeper meanings. So far, it has been similar to what I was expecting, except for how we also look at past literature and make connections to Taylor’s music and past poems, songs, and stories.”
Kingery says she would love to continue the course after this semester if students continue to show interest in the topic.
