Taylor Swift Course Added at Salem State University
A Taylor Swift course has been added as a special topics seminar at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
According to the university, the course will be called “The Media Impact and Societal Influence of Taylor Alison Swift” and will be taught by adjunct faculty member Lauren Torlone. Per her bio on the university’s website, Torlone has previously spent the last decade in Washington, D.C. working at a variety of networks, including CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN. She’s covered a variety of news beats from global politics to presidential elections to breaking news. Her bio even states, “She is also a pop culture aficionado and a major Swiftie!”
In a statement, Torlone said of the course, “It came together for me in terms of conceptualizing the course because she represents many parts of the human experience; at the same time there’s no doubt that Swift is the figurehead to draw people in. Pop culture influences society and culture, and the reverse is also true.”
Torlone added, “Taylor Swift is emblematic of many things – she’s a female voter in election season; she’s a businesswoman; she’s an entrepreneur and so much more. She’s a person who represents many of the things we’re talking about in the media and with students in our department.”
Salem State University isn’t the first college to offer a course related to Swift. According to BestColleges.com, there were at least 14 colleges offering a Taylor Swift course in the Fall 2024 semester. The University of Cincinnati stood out from other universities by offering three different Swift courses: “Philosophy: Taylor’s Version,” “Topics in Writing Studies: Taylor Swift,” and “Topics in Popular Music: Taylor Swift.”
Other courses included “Swiftonomics: Economics of Taylor Swift” at American University, “Intertextuality – Taylor’s Version” at Duke University, and “The Mastermind of the Taylor Swift Brand” at the University of Miami.
Interest in Swift on this level shouldn’t be considered super surprising considering her reach and the monster success of the Eras Tour. Swift is currently on the final leg of that tour, which has helped her become the richest female musician in the world. Earlier this month, it was reported by Forbes that Swift’s net worth is now $1.6 billion. She surpassed Rihanna, who’s net worth is $1.4 billion.
Swift’s Eras tour helped make her a billionaire, and Forbes also notes that she’s the first musician to become a billionaire based on just her music and touring. Unlike Rihanna with Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty, Swift doesn’t have an additional product brand to provide her with an additional revenue stream.
