Celebrities Who Have Had College Courses Taught About Them

A topic of conversation. Over the years, certain celebrities have made their mark on their industry — inspiring professors to offer a course on their influence.

Taylor Swift‘s discography left an impression on Brittany Spanoswho later founded a class on the singer at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute.

“This course proposes to deconstruct both attraction and dislike for Taylor Swift through close reading of her music and public discourse in relation to her own growth as an artist and celebrity,” read the February 2022 description for the course.

The class explored topics such as Swift’s music, entrepreneurship, longevity and the mark her career has left on the industry. At the time, Spanos remarked that teaching a class about her favorite artist was a “dream”.

“I hope to help them rethink how to engage with one of the biggest and sometimes divisive stars on the planet, the way the Clive professors like it Jason King, Vivien Goldman and Joe Levy did for me taking her classes,” she told Variety at the time, before adding that it was “such an honor” to share her expert perspective with the students.

Her former Professor King also stated that bringing the course to life was a breeze for the faculty. “[Spanos is] a Taylor fan, but she also knows how to contextualize her culturally and get students to think deeper about her and her music through the lens of gender, feminism, race and class, and other categories related to identity, and that deeper Thinking is what this program is about,” he told Variety.

Later that year, Texas State University announced they would begin a course focused on it in spring 2023 Harry Styles.

“I’ve always wanted to teach a history class that is both fun and covers a time that students experienced and can relate to,” associate professor of digital history dr Louie DeanValencia told NBC in July 2022. “By studying the art, activism, consumerism and fandom surrounding Harry Styles, I think we’ll be able to get to some very relevant contemporary issues. I think it’s so important that young people see what’s important to them reflected in their curriculum.”

Scroll down to see which other celebrities have inspired a course to be taught about them: