Taylor made: What university students are learning from the music icon

Varsities are teaching courses in Taylor Swift – social psychology, literature, feminism. Take a peek at the debates, and the history of popstars in academia.

We can plant a memory garden

(Images: Adobe Stock; Getty; HT imaging: Monica Gupta)

Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair…

And we will never go back

To that bloodshed, crimson clover

Uh-huh, the worst was over…

That’s from Taylor Swift’s The Great War (Midnights; 2022).

At Ghent University in Belgium, students of linguistics and literature are examining the lyrics of this and other Swift songs, seeking parallels with the verses of poets such as Sylvia Plath, Margaret Atwood, William Shakespeare. In particular, they are