Taylor Swift Headed to This Law school, in Theory
2023-11-04
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1University of South Dakota law professor Sean Kammer's friends told him they were unsure about the seriousness of his upcoming class on musical performer Taylor Swift.
2"I understand this sounds ridiculous, at least at first glance," said Kammer, a Taylor Swift fan, or Swiftie, himself. "But it's not."
3Kammer's class, called the Taylor Swift effect, is planned for the spring.
4It is believed to be the first law school class based on the famous American singer.
5After attending a Swift concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in June, Kammer said he was inspired to develop the writing class.
6It is available for second- and third-year law students.
7The class will study the artist's dealings with the law, including her rerecording of six albums and related copyright problems, Kammer said.
8It will also examine how an individual's experiences and beliefs shape how they understand the law - much like how there are different understandings of her songs.
9Law classes about popular culture are not uncommon.
10They also bring attention to schools that offer them.
11The television show The Wire inspired a number of criminal law classes over the years.
12In 2022, the University of Virginia School of Law offered a class on corporate law based on the show Succession.
13Law classes centered on a single public person are rare, however.
14But Georgia State University College of Law is currently offering a class based on the legal life of musician Rick Ross.
15Boston University law professor Jessica Silbey helped write a book on popular culture and the law.
16She said students are usually more interested when they study subjects such as sports, new technology and famous people.
17Silbey teaches Swift's album rerecordings in her copyright class to teach about contract law in the music business.
18She said the singer's success story and what she has dealt with provide good lessons in the law.
19South Dakota Law is not the first school to offer classes on Swift.
20The University of California at Berkeley recently announced an upcoming business class based on Swift's business experiences.
21Stanford, New York University, and the University of Texas have also offered Swift-inspired classes.
22But Kammer's class is the first legal exploration of her music and career.
23Kammer also teaches legal history. He said he plans to examine some Swift songs to look into how the words of the songs and certain legal texts can be understood.
24He said his class will also look at good and bad qualities of methods for understanding the law.
25I'm Jill Robbins.