Who runs the (academic) world? Yale rolls out new class focused on Beyoncé’s cultural impact

Yale University’s Beyoncé course will become available this upcoming spring semester

Kaleigh Werner
New York
Sunday 10 November 2024 23:11 GMT
Comments
Beyoncé explains main reason for Kamala Harris endorsement at Texas rally

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Yale University is launching a new class focused entirely on Beyoncé’s influence.

For their upcoming spring semester, Yale added the “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music” course in which the icon’s work will be analyzed and interpreted as it relates to Black history.

Taught by Daphne Brooks, a professor of African American studies and music, the course will follow her work over 11 years, from 2013 to 2024. The goal of the course, as explained in the Yale Daily News, is to view her art, fashion, “visual media,” and performance through an intellectual lens, seeing how they all carry political and cultural significance.

Students will be taught to further understand the experience of Black females in politics and media through reading assignments and discussions. Texts from Cedric Robinson, Karl Hagstrom Miller, and Hortense Spillers will be viewed in tandem with humanitarian projects and Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Libray’s archives.

Brooks intends to separate Beyoncé from her “typical pop repertoire,” as the star did for herself during certain eras of her career, meaning the course will focus more on the latter years.

Speaking to the Yale Daily News, Brooks detailed her intention to introduce this new class following the 2024 US election that saw Donald Trump become the 47th president. “[This class] seemed good to teach because [Beyoncé] is just so ripe for teaching at this moment in time,” she explained.

Yale University invites students to take a new class focused entirely on Beyoncé’s cultural impact
Yale University invites students to take a new class focused entirely on Beyoncé’s cultural impact (iStock/Getty)

“The number of breakthroughs and innovations she’s executed and the way she’s interwoven history and politics and really granular engagements with Black cultural life into her performance aesthetics and her utilization of her voice as a portal to think about history and politics,” Brooks continued. “There’s just no one like her.”

Having previously taught a “Black Women in Popular Music Culture” course at Princeton University, Brooks thought it best to create a more focused rendition at Yale where she focused primarily on Beyoncé rather than trying to fit the impact of multiple artists into one semester.

Of the old course, she said: “There was so much energy around the focus on Beyoncé, even though it was a class that starts in the late 19th century and moves through the present day. I always thought I should come back to focusing on her and centering her work pedagogically at some point.”

Brooks wants her students to better understand how culture can serve as a sort of refuge for marginalized people and minority groups in the country. Furthermore, she wants to continue Vice President Kamala Harris’ efforts to strengthen and broaden community building for the next generation.

“By looking at culture through Beyoncé, it can invite us to think about the extent to which art can articulate the world we live in and nourish our spirits and give us the space to imagine better worlds and the ethics of freedom,” Brooks added.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in