Taylor Swift Will Receive Honorary Doctorate From NYU

Taylor Swift attends the “All Too Well” New York premiere on Nov. 12, 2021. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Taylor Swift is set to receive an honorary degree from New York University.

The iconic singer-songwriter will be awarded a doctorate of fine arts, honoris causa, from the prestigious school and will also be giving a commencement speech at the ceremony in May.

NYU made the announcement in a statement Monday, stating that the “unprecedented ‘doubleheader’ event,” which takes place May 18, at Yankee Stadium, will honor this year’s class of graduates as well as those of 2020 and 2021 whose ceremonies were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NYU is already offering a course focused on Swift and her musical career. Earlier this year Rolling Stone journalist and NYU alumna Brittany Spanos began teaching the course at the Clive Davis Institute which analyzes Swift’s evolution as a musician, businesswoman, entrepreneur, country singer, and pop sensation, according to Variety.

“I’ve been covering Taylor Swift since I began my writing career a decade ago and have been a superfan of hers for even longer. It’s such an honor to be able to share my Swiftie expertise with a sharp group of students,” Spanos said, according to the outlet.

The course description reads in part, “This course proposes to deconstruct both the appeal and aversions to Taylor Swift through close readings of her music and public discourse as it relates to her own growth as an artist and a celebrity.”

Through readings, lectures, and more, the class “delves into analyses of the culture and politics of teen girlhood in pop music, fandom, media studies, whiteness, and power as it relates to her image and the images of those who have both preceded and succeeded her.”

The course will also “consider topics like copyright and ownership, American nationalism, and the ongoing impact of social media on the pop music industry,” the description adds