Get in ‘Formation’ because class is in session and today’s topic is… Beyonce.
One again, music’s reigning Queen is forming the focus of a new academic course.
Full story below…
The visual album will be dissected, examined, and evaluated in by first year students taking first-year students taking Alexandra Reznik‘s writing course at Chatham University this Fall.
By no means of a random selection Reznik says its selection presents an opportunity to examine the serious topics addressed by the 2016 album. Students who sign up for the class get to explore how they fit into the power systems around them while writing multiple papers from personal narratives to research papers.
Expanding on why she chose Bey as the basis of the teaching, she said:
“Whether you like her or not, she’s a prominent cultural figure. [Because she’s] “in our faces, people usually have strong opinions [about her].
For Reznik, the singer’s popularity also makes her accessible.
She will push students to understand more about why they like or don’t like Beyonce, why what Beyonce does is popular and who her audience is. She stresses that ‘Lemonade’ itself is accessible because of the wide range of topics and themes it addresses including infidelity, inequality, religion and physiological issues. [Source]
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It’s been almost a year and a half since ‘Lemonade’ was first poured into the public sphere and the conversations it’s sparked continue. And now in the academic arena. A true testament to its potency.
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