With a and acclaim as one of the most influential artists in music history, pop superstar Beyonc茅 and her expansive cultural legacy will be the subject of a new course at Yale University next year.
Titled 鈥淏eyonc茅 Makes History: Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music,鈥� the one-credit class will focus on the period from her 2013 self-titled album through this year's genre-defying and how the world-famous singer, songwriter and entrepreneur has generated awareness and engagement in social and political ideologies.
Yale University's African American Studies Professor Daphne Brooks intends to use the performer's wide-ranging repertoire, including footage of her live performances, as a 鈥減ortal鈥� for students to learn about Black intellectuals, from Frederick Douglass to Toni Morrison.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be taking seriously the ways in which the critical work, the intellectual work of some of our greatest thinkers in American culture resonates with Beyonc茅's music and thinking about the ways in which we can apply their philosophies to her work" and how it has sometimes been at odds with the 鈥淏lack radical intellectual tradition,鈥� Brooks said.
Beyonc茅, whose full name is Beyonc茅 Giselle Knowles-Carter, is not the first performer to be the subject of a college-level course. There have been courses on singer and songwriter Bob Dylan over the years and several colleges and universities have recently and her lyrics and pop culture legacy. That includes law professors who hope to engage a new generation of lawyers by using a famous celebrity like Swift to bring context to complicated, real-world concepts.
Professors at other colleges and universities have also incorporated Beyonc茅 into their courses or offered classes on the superstar.
Brooks sees Beyonc茅 in a league of her own, crediting the singer with using her platform to 鈥渟pectacularly elevate awareness of and engagement with grassroots, social, political ideologies and movements鈥� in her music, including the Black Lives Matter movement and Black feminist commentary.
鈥淐an you think of any other pop musician who鈥檚 invited an array of grassroots activists to participate in these longform multimedia album projects that she鈥檚 given us since 2013," asked Brooks. She noted how Beyonc茅 has also tried to tell a story through her music about 鈥渞ace and gender and sexuality in the context of the 400-year-plus history of African-American subjugation."
鈥淪he鈥檚 a fascinating artist because historical memory, as I often refer to it, and also the kind of impulse to be an archive of that historical memory, it's just all over her work,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淎nd you just don鈥檛 see that with any other artist.鈥�
Brooks previously taught a well-received class on Black women in popular music culture at Princeton University and discovered her students were most excited about the portion dedicated to Beyonc茅. She expects her class at Yale will be especially popular, but she's trying to keep the size of the group relatively small.
For those who manage to snag a seat next semester, they shouldn't get their hopes up about seeing Queen Bey in person.
鈥淚t鈥檚 too bad because if she were on tour, I would definitely try to take the class to see her," Brooks said.
Susan Haigh, The Associated Press
