Whether you love her or love to hate her, it is impossible to escape Taylor Swift. Swift has won more American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Grammy Album of the Year awards, and MTV Music Video of the Year awards than any other artist in history. Her extensive discography has spanned multiple genres and eleven original studio albums. She continues to break her own streaming records with every album release, and her popularity has shown no signs of slowing.
Her music, however, is just one piece of her legacy. She was named Time’s Person of the Year in 2023, the same year that the revenue generated from her albums, movies, and tours officially made her a billionaire. Her Eras tour has boosted the economies of dozens of cities around the world. Though many football fans dread her appearances, her presence at NFL games has been associated with increased viewership for the Kansas City Chiefs. Within minutes of Swift’s endorsement of the Harris-Walz campaign, online searches for voting registration soared. Her brand has impacts reaching far beyond the music industry, making her presence inescapable in today’s culture.
NEXUS (Taylor’s Version) will take an interdisciplinary approach to exploring Taylor Swift’s legacy. Guest speakers from departments across the university will challenge students to consider Taylor Swift’s impact from feminist, political, psychological, and other perspectives. Most sessions will begin with a discussion of the lyrics and music of one of her albums and then be followed by a lecture from a guest speaker. The semester will conclude with two weeks of student presentations, in which students will select a Taylor Swift-related topic or controversy and analyze it from at least three academic perspectives.
This NEXUS Experience is open to both Swifties and Swift-skeptics. All those with an interest in the topic are encouraged to apply!