Photo: Taylor Swift/IG

Dr. Cherish Brillon, the professor who will teach the Taylor Swift elective at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, has addressed a commonly asked question about her course.

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Why teach Taylor Swift?

In an article posted by UP, Brillon said it is equally important to study local celebrities, but her academic interests focus on political economy, the transnational nature of cultural products, gender, Philippine media studies, postcolonial theories, and popular culture.

“All these interests are embodied by Taylor Swift, who is currently the biggest pop star we have today and if you are in media studies and doing celebrity studies, you cannot ignore this,” she said.

“Using Taylor Swift as an example situates the course in a transnational media ecology or environment that’s vastly different from what has been previously studied,” she added.

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Brillon said Swift appeals to a demographic of people who are media savvy and digitally literate. The Philippines is one of the top 10 countries who are the biggest streamers of her music, and Quezon City previously placed in the top five cities worldwide who listen to her songs.

Aside from Swift’s music and popularity, the professor said there is also a political dimension to the focus on the pop star. In 2020, Swift shared a petition to junk the anti-terror bill in the Philippines on her social media accounts.

Brillon also said Swift’s fandom continues to make online noise about the conflict in Palestine and also campaigned against Argentina’s right-wing populist president Javier Milei.

“So, to the question of ‘Why Taylor?’ I always answer, why not? A lot of foreign scholars study us, our cultural products, and our discourses, so why can’t we study theirs and put forth knowledge claims and pathways that come from us being Filipinos existing and participating in a global stage?” she said.

Titled as “Celebrity Studies: Taylor Swift in Focus,” the course will be offered as an elective under BA Broadcast Media Arts and Studies and will be taught in the second semester by Brillon.

In an email interview with GMA News Online, Brillon said the course will focus on the conception, construction, and performance of Taylor Swift as a celebrity and how she can be used to explain the Filipinos’ and media’s relationship with class, politics, gender, race, and fantasies of success and mobility.

Aside from UP, the De La Salle University Dasmariñas (DLSU-D) Senior High School Department will start offering a course about the life and artistry of Swift.

Courses on the pop star have also been offered in several academic institutions such as Stanford University, New York University, and Harvard University.