Beyoncé will be the focus of a new class at Yale
It has been announced that Beyoncé is going to focus of a new class at Yale University. The class will be taught by Professor Daphne Brooks and will be called “Beyonce Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music.”
Brooks spoke to Yale’s Daily News about the course she is offering, explaining that it will “Examine Beyoncé’s artistic work from 2013 to 2024 as a lens to study Black history, intellectual thought and performance.”
Brooks is no stranger to teaching classes about Beyoncé. She has previously taught students at Princeton University, which focused on her cultural impact alone. The one she is offering at Yale is different, as it covers a much broader scope and looks at Beyoncé’s impact in a number of other facets as well as culture.
“[This class] seemed good to teach because [Beyoncé] is just so ripe for teaching at this moment in time,” she said, “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 voice…”
Brooks continued, “…As a portal to think about history and politics – there’s just no one like her.”
Beyoncé isn’t the first artist to have a University course dedicated to her. Recently, a class at Georgia University has been devoted to Kendrick Lamar and his record good kid, m.A.A.d city. The album is critically acclaimed and takes the listener through a day in the life of a budding gangster in Compton. It’s heavily concept, with callbacks and a narrative throughout.
Other artists who have had University courses dedicated to them include Bruce Springsteen, The Weeknd, 2Pac and Drake. These artists are all subjects in American university courses.
The album comes just eight months after the singer’s country record, Cowboy Carter, which was another bold move in her career which saw her tackle a brand new genre of music. She wasn’t a familiar face in the world of country music but has well and truly left her mark on the genre with her successful album. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and is the third LP in a trilogy which follows the release of 2022’s Renaissance.
Details surrounding the singer’s third album are yet to be announced, and the theme of the record is also being kept under wraps.