FYS 1276 - Eras of Miss Americana

Credits: 4
The Highway Don’t Care. But we do. We do. In this class, we won’t Shake it Off just because there may be Bad Blood between Taylor Swift and a Heartbreak Prince, Harry Styles, Tom Hiddleston, or Travis Kelce. Nah. This class isn’t aaaaalllllll about that. We are gonna critically (lovingly, despairingly, and fairingly) appreciate Taylor Swift’s Multimedia Universe (TSMU) and its cultural significance. We’ll learn a little bit about Swift’s history; we’ll examine the TSMU’s representation practices, including the ways Swift depicts relationships, love, morality, and politics in her songs, among other things; we’ll even examine how value systems are expressed and complicated in her works and how they are connected (e.g., songs, documentaries, and, actions). “And life makes love look hard. The stakes are high, the water’s rough. But this love is ours” (T. Swift, 2010 & 2023). And for a semester we’ll be figuring what that love is—the love of/for/around Taylor Swift and thinking critically about that love—taking a hard look at it. And, FYI, I (your professor) am pretty “meh” about Swift. Not yet a Swiftie. I do have an open heart and am ready to be Enchanted.
McDaniel Plan: First-Year Seminar