Students at the University of Texas at Austin are already buzzing over the addition of a new course that will focus on Rihanna and the Queen Bee herself Beyonce. Though the course will not be available until Spring 2015, the University has already released some details regarding the curriculum.
According to the University, “They will not be simply listening to Beyoncé and Rihanna for fun or even comparing the roles of Beyoncé and Rihanna in popular culture, rather, students will be studying how the lyrics, music videos, and actions of these women express various aspects of black feminism such as violence, economic opportunity, sexuality, standards of beauty, and creative self-expression.”
In a sign of the changing attitudes towards Hip Hop and R&B, a number of colleges have already made similar moves; including Rice University which offers a course taught by Bun B, Georgetown University which offers a sociology course based on Jay-Z, Harvard University which offers a course on Tupac Shakur and Rutgers University which already offers its own Beyonce course titled “Politicizing Beyonce.”
The course, according to its listing, “Hopes for students to understand the role black feminism plays in culture as well as everyday life.”