{"id":136398,"date":"2023-10-27T15:18:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T19:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=136398"},"modified":"2023-10-27T15:18:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T19:18:12","slug":"academic-conference-to-focus-on-the-phenomenon-of-taylor-swift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/academic-conference-to-focus-on-the-phenomenon-of-taylor-swift\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic conference to focus on ‘the phenomenon’ of Taylor Swift"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sold-out event includes panels on politics, sexuality of pop star<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Gender, capitalism and feminism will be among the topics discussed at an upcoming academic conference about \u201cthe phenomenon\u201d of Taylor Swift at the Indiana University-Bloomington.<\/p>\n

Billed as the \u201cworld\u2019s first academic conference\u201d centered solely around the celebrity, the Nov. 3 and 4 event, \u201cTaylor Swift: The Conference Era,\u201d will bring together fans and scholars to discuss \u201cpertinent topics through the lens of the star,\u201d according<\/a> to IU News<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The IU Arts & Humanities Council is sponsoring the event, including \u201cspeakers who will reflect upon the icon\u2019s cultural relevance and her influence on pop culture, the economy, gender, fandom, politics, music theory, history and more,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

Given Swift\u2019s recent record-breaking Eras Tour, the conference will provide \u201can opportunity to not only reflect on, but also re-imagine Swift\u2019s extensive impact. Scholars and fans alike see this as a critical time to discuss and analyze Taylor Swift\u2019s impact during yet another peak in her extensive and iconic career,\u201d the council website states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The keynote speaker, Brenda Weber, a professor and gender studies scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences, will speak about gender and \u201cMiss Americana,\u201d a 2020 documentary about Swift.<\/p>\n

Organizers also issued<\/a> a call for academic papers about Swift on topics such as \u201cintersections of identity: gender, sexuality and politics,\u201d \u201cgenre blending,\u201d \u201ccopyright intellectual property,\u201d fashion, and advertising.<\/p>\n

The council website promotes workshops and panel discussions with more than 30 scholars from across the world on topics such as \u201cFeminism and Capitalism,\u201d \u201cTaylor as an Anti-Hero,\u201d and \u201cTour Economy and Crowd Culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to a request for the conference schedule, a spokesperson told The College Fix<\/em> via email the full schedule is still being finalized and directed The Fix<\/em> to the conference organizer, who did not respond.<\/p>\n

The event is an academic conference at a public university, but the website states children as young as 12 may attend. According to the event page, the conference will not feature \u201cflashing lights or troubling content.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event already is sold out, according<\/a> to the website of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, the location of the conference.<\/p>\n

Swift has been the subject of other academic discussions in the past. In 2021, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ethnomusicologist hosted<\/a> a similar virtual event where topics included how \u201cthe politics of whiteness\u201d relates to the singer\/song-writer\u2019s fan base.<\/p>\n

MORE: Defenders of Taylor Swift video guilty of \u2018white supremacist fatphobia\u2019: professors<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IMAGE: IU Arts & Humanities Council\/Indiana University-Bloomington<\/p>\n

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