Beyoncé 101: Yale joins the Beyhive with new course on pop star’s cultural impact

Next spring, Yale University will introduce a new course looking at the political and cultural relevance of pop singer Beyoncé. The new course matches with an increasing trend of colleges providing courses motivated by Beyoncé's political and cultural influence, Kazinform News Agency reports.

The class, titled "Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music," will explore her artistry and influence from her 2013 album as well as her latest release, "Cowboy Carter."

Daphne Brooks, author and Black studies scholar who co-founded Yale's Black Sound & the Archive Working Group, will be instructing the class. Previously teaching a course called "Black Women and Popular Music Culture" at Princeton University, Brooks said this would be her first chance to dedicate a whole lecture course to Beyoncé's work.

“I’m looking forward to exploring her body of work and considering how, among other things, historical memory, Black feminist politics, Black liberation politics and philosophies course through the last decade of her performance repertoire,” Brooks wrote to NBC News, “as well as the ways that her unprecedented experimentations with the album form, itself, have provided her with the platform to mobilize these themes.”

Schools like Rutgers, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Cornell have looked into the pop star's influence on feminism and activism through classes “Politicizing Beyoncé” and “Beyoncé Nation.”

Likewise, Taylor Swift's current ascent with her rerecorded albums and Eras Tour has spurred classes on her writing and success at Harvard, UC Berkeley, and the University of Florida.