Students during high school are expected to choose a career early, and base their academic goals around this chosen career. However, for most of the students, music and being a kid is also important. What if someone could go to college, but major in celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, and Kanye West? It’s possible these days, thanks to certain colleges.
Skidmore College in New York state is proud to announce the new “The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender, and Media.” This summer class will have Miley as the topic of discussions and comparisons. Professor Carolyn Chernoff explained the course in more detail when she said, “Unfortunately, the way we talk about female pop stars and female bodies, class matters, gender matters, sexuality and sexual performance matters, but race matters a lot and the way we talk about white pop stars is quite different than how we talk about the bodies of women of color.” So if you thought this class would just focus on twerking and riding construction gear naked, you were wrong. Despite the title and the celebrity focus, it does seem like an actual productive course.

A little bit closer to home at Rutgers, there is a Beyonce course. This does not focus on the person herself, but it has a similar curriculum to the Cyrus course. “Politicizing Beyonce” is more dedicated to observing how the star continues to push boundaries and shine as a superstar. The music is obviously a factor, and the playlist includes “Drunk in Love,” “Single Ladies,” and “I Was Here.”
If you’re a rap aficionado, go to Georgetown to study Beyonce’s iconic husband, “Sociology of Hip Hop: Jay-Z” is an unusual course, but according to the professor the main topics will be racial and gender identity, sexuality, capitalism and economic inequality. There are other courses about the rapper, and even his friend Kayne, but Georgetown was the pioneer that introduced the course. = The point of being a celebrity isn’t to be a good person – it’s to be noticed. These celebrities and more have done a great job of catching the public’s attention, and they’ve gone as far as impressing college professors. The courses do sound interesting, and it would be a good experience to see how these entertainment symbols are used in order to compare social issues. So, if you are going into college undeclared, you may want to consider these classes.