When you send your child off to a college or university your mental image may be of them going to a serious place where experts in their academic field impart knowledge to students who are eager to learn before taking their first tremulous steps into the real world of adulthood. Well, that was what people used to think but a thin veneer of that still dominates the mental image many hold of what exactly goes on in the academy, despite the many, many, many missteps that have been taken in recent years by College and University faculty and administration that have lost the trust of a huge portion of the American population. Still, although many may not be as respected as they once were there's still an aura of intellectual mystique that surrounds our higher education system, an aura that had been carefully cultivated over decades and even centuries by academics who came before... and one that the current crop of professors don't seem to care to cultivate any longer given the newest fad in course offerings at some of our institutions of higher learning. And like so many things in the current narrative these courses focus one a single topic that has many enthralled: Taylor Swift.
Universities around the country have started creating entire courses dedicated to studying Taylor Swift's lyricism and impact. https://t.co/JGNAX7qHQ3
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 31, 2023
Now it doesn't appear that students can major in Taylor (yet), but when parents are sending in the tuition check for their son or daughter we sure do hope they're aware that part of what they're paying for is for their kid to know a bit more about Taylorology. The classes are being held, according to the article, at schools such as Harvard, University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Texas at Austin, with topics such as 'The Taylor Swift Songbook' (UT Austin), 'Musical Storytelling With Taylor Swift and Other Iconic Female Artists' (University of Florida), and 'Artistry & Entrepreneurship: Taylor’s Version' (UC Berkeley). Real weighty academic topics, right?
And college kids wonder why they can’t get jobs… 🤣
— Eric Joiner Jr (@Process180) December 31, 2023
Great, more WORTHLESS classes that universities can use to sponge more money from students. 🙄
— The Dunadan (@TDunadan) December 31, 2023
People, Idiocracy was a movie, not a manual.
— Jules! (@sparkly_jules1) December 31, 2023
Now in fairness this isn't the first time that this type of unusual class has been offered up by a notable school. Back in 2000, for instance, Oberlin College in Ohio made headlines by offering a class on 'The Life and Times of Drew Barrymore' which at the time was lambasted by many in the academic world (and outside of it too) as the height of absurdity. The phenomenon of trying to tailor a 'blow off class' to something that kids might actually be interested in isn't a new one, but this one is particularly wide spread and notable because it's about Taylor, as almost everything seems to be these days, right?
Recommended
The students that would take this course are the same ones screaming about wanting student loan forgiven
— Brenn Miller (@scatterbrenned) December 31, 2023
This is the modern equivalent to "African basket weaving" classes
— Ol' Blue (@fatguidehiking) December 31, 2023
We've always heard it as 'underwater basket weaving' but the point still stands.
Universities making themselves more irrelevant by the day.
— Tjb2112 (@tbausch2112) December 31, 2023
So they are admitting they are no longer valid institutions and should be deconstructed?
— Chow (@ChowRabbit) December 31, 2023
They're certainly not advancing the case that they're not.
Imagine going into debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars just to be a Swiftie https://t.co/zjzZZ593YY
— Holiday Cheer Honkitude (@Mr_Honkitude) December 31, 2023
Things that happen in crumbling empires: https://t.co/dcFhwmfFdb
— Cat Sajak (@Schminxer) December 31, 2023
Rumour has it the tuition costs less than a pair of concert tickets. https://t.co/tBX20myONc
— Perfectly Flawed (@grounder761) December 31, 2023
Well when you put it that way it's an absolute bargain!
Of course none of us should be surprised that academia is beclowning itself these days, it seems like not a day goes by where we don't see at least one story that reminds us of the fact. And at least they haven't awarded Taylor Swift the Nobel Prize in Literature like they gave it to Bob Dylan back in 2016... yet. So let's just chalk this down as another little testament to the decay of a once serious endeavor, the education of our youth, and move on with our heads hung low.
And start considering looking into trade schools for your kids, they'll probably get paid more when they get out anyways.
***
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Twitchy's conservative reporting taking on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth. Join Twitchy VIP and use the promo code SAVEAMERICA to get 40% off your VIP membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member