with one Record 99 Grammy nominations pop superstar who is considered one of the most influential artists in music history Beyonce and its vast cultural legacy will be the subject of a new lecture at Yale University next year.

Article titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory” & Politics Through Music” will focus on the period from his 2013 self-titled album to this year’s genre-defying “Cowboy Carter” and how the world-famous singer, songwriter and entrepreneur raised awareness and engagement on the social and political ideologies.

Yale University Professor of African American Studies Daphne Brooks plans to use the artist’s wide-ranging repertoire, including footage of his live performances, as a “portal” through which students can learn about Black intellectuals from Frederick Douglass to Toni Morrison.

“We’re going to take seriously the ways that the critical work, the intellectual work of some of our greatest thinkers in American culture resonates with Beyoncé’s music, and we’re going to think about how we can apply their philosophies to her work,” and how that sometimes conflicts with the “Black radical intellectual tradition,” Brooks said.

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Beyoncé, whose full name is Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, is not the first artist to be the subject of a university-level course. For years, classes have been offered about singer and songwriter Bob Dylan, and more recently many colleges and universities have offered classes on singer Taylor Swift, her lyrics, and her pop culture legacy. That includes law professors who hope to engage the next generation of lawyers by using a celebrity like Swift to bring context to complex, real-world concepts.

Professors at other colleges and universities also included Beyoncé in their classes or gave lectures about the superstar.

Brooks sees Beyoncé in a league of her own and believes the singer has used her platform to “tremendously raise awareness of and engagement with grassroots, social, political ideologies and movements” in her music, including the Black Lives Matter movement and Black feminist commentary.

“Can you think of another pop musician who has invited a number of grassroots activists into these long-form multimedia album projects that he has given us since 2013,” Brooks said. he asked. He also noted that Beyoncé is trying to tell a story through her music about “race, gender, and sexuality in the context of over 400 years of history of African American subjugation.”

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“He is a fascinating artist because the historical memory that I often talk about, and also the impulse to be the archive of that historical memory, is everywhere in his work,” Brooks said. “And you don’t see that in any other artist.”

Brooks had previously taught a well-received lecture at Princeton University on black women in popular music culture and discovered that her students were most excited by the section devoted to Beyoncé. He expects his class at Yale to be particularly popular, but he tries to keep the size of the group relatively small.

Those who managed to secure a seat next term should not give up hope of seeing Queen Bey in person.

“It’s too bad because if he was on tour I would definitely try to get to the course to see him,” Brooks said.