Rutgers University takes on a different approach to education
Beyoncé, one of the world’s most influential pop stars, has not only conquered the music industry – she is now taking on the education system. That’s right, Rutgers University is now offering a course called “Politicizing Beyoncé” in the department of Women’s and Gender Studies. According to the university, the course will “explore American race, gender and sexual politics,” as well as explore the diva’s alter-ego, Sasha Fierce.
Kevin Allred, a doctoral student who is teaching the class this spring, tells the university’s online news site that he is using Beyoncé’s career as a way to explore these topical and pertinent issues. Allred added that readings from the black feminist canon – including the writings of bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Sojourner Truth – will be included in the course’s curriculum.
Beyoncé is recognized for her feministic values and visions of sexual equality, having hits such as “Independent Women,” “If I Were a Boy,” “Diva,” and countless others. Using a pivotal figure in today’s pop culture as a topic of study may just be the most brilliant way to encourage students to take a course they might otherwise have not otherwise considered worthwhile. Allred supports the idea of critiquing the present day media, saying, “It’s important to shift students away from simply being consumers of media toward thinking more critically about what they’re engaging on a regular basis.”
The media constantly feeds young students material fuelled by influential pop stars, which (whether we know it or not) greatly shapes their life goals, as well as their values. Media awareness is crucial for students in today’s society to avoid simply becoming products of the media.
Some reactions, however, have not been so kind to this newly adapted study. In the online sphere, many fear that this is the first step to the degradation of the U.S. education system, others going so far as to say that they are ashamed that such a course is even being offered. For Allred, much of this backlash is simply due to a misunderstanding of what the course is set out to teach. “This isn’t a course about Beyoncé’s political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend,” Allred explained. An iconic figure such as Beyoncé may be exactly what students need to make a connection between what they learn and what they are exposed to on a daily basis. Rather than simply accepting what the media displays, students will learn to analyze and critique the messages that are being broadcasted to them – and what better way to do this than to study Queen Bey herself?
For all of you men out there, fear not: there is an option for you out there too. Georgetown University is now offering a class called “The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Urban Theodicy of Jay-Z,” which focuses on Beyoncé’s husband.