Stanford University students will have the opportunity to study Taylor Swift’s storytelling skills next year in the second course the prestigious Bay Area university has dedicated to the Grammy-winning pop sensation.
Titled “The Last Great American Songwriter: Storytelling With Taylor Swift Through the Eras,” the course will be offered to all undergraduates next spring through the university’s English department. Earlier this year, Stanford introduced “All Too Well (Ten Week Version),” a class dedicated to exploring the songwriter’s 2012 hit “All Too Well,” which was available exclusively to students who participated in the extracurricular Italic 99 program.
The brainchild behind the new course is Ava Jeffs, a rising sophomore and self-described lifelong fan of the singer. Inspired by a lack of contemporary music analysis in academic settings, Jeffs conceived the idea of a weekly class devoted to Swift’s songwriting. She reached out to various professors with a syllabus that aimed to reframe Swift as an author.
“I knew there were a lot of courses about classic literature writers from the 1800s, but never about a songwriter,” Jeffs said. “I wanted to draw parallels between novels and her songs, and how she can make an album with individual songs that build on each other and come to a climax,” akin to narrative arcs in classic literature, she said.
Jeffs will co-teach the Swift course with Mark McGurl, an author and professor of literature at Stanford.
The class, Jeffs said, will analyze Swift’s repertoire in a literary context. Additionally, students will chart her evolution as a lyricist and her cultural impact. Jeffs emphasized Swift’s ability to reinvent herself over the past two decades as one of the factors in her enduring success and in providing a shared experience with her fans.
“She talks about things that young girls are going through, and that’s something that has stayed present in her songwriting as she has grown older,” Jeffs said.
Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music recently added a course titled “Songs of Taylor Swift” to its curriculum, joining a growing list of institutes of higher learning offering classes dedicated to the pop superstar’s work. The University of Texas and New York University have also offered courses that look into her songs as literary works and analyze her use of poetic devices and tropes.
During the upcoming 10-week program at Stanford, students will delve into Swift’s vast discography, exploring each of her 10 albums with a focus on her literary skills. For a final project, Jeffs said that students might be tasked with creating an album that uses Swift’s songs to dramatize their personal story arc. Alternatively, they may explore a different artistic medium, such as film, visual art or poetry, while incorporating themes from Swift’s work.
A Stanford University student walks in front of Hoover Tower. The school will offer its second course based on the pop singer Taylor Swift next spring.
Paul Sakuma/Associated PressFor Jeffs, Swift’s music goes beyond mere entertainment. In her Stanford application essay, she tackled the deeply personal impact of Swift’s song “Clean” from the album “1989,” using it as an outlet to express her struggles with an eating disorder.
“She’s not afraid of emotion. She’s always embraced it,” Jeffs said. “You can find a Taylor Swift song for every emotion you have, which is a great lesson.”
Swift is scheduled to return to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara for a two-night stop during her Eras Tour on July 28-29.
Reach Aidin Vaziri: avaziri@sfchronicle.com
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