The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey is offering a class called Politicizing Beyonce.
Kevin Allred, who is teaching the class, said he is using the singer’s career to explore American race, gender and sexual politics.
The class includes analysis of Beyonce’s videos and lyrics as well as readings from Black feminists.
Allred also said he wanted to help students at the university think more critically about media consumption.
“This isn’t a course about Beyonce’s political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend,” he said.
Earlier this month Beyonce, who is married to rapper Jay Z, wrote an open essay for the Shriver Report website on the issue of gender equality.
“We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do, but we can get there if we work together.”
Rutgers also has a class examining the theology of singer Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics.
Beyonce and her husband were named the most powerful people in the music industry by Billboard earlier this week.
The pair gave a sexy performance of “Drunk in Love” at the Grammys on Sunday night that still has tongues wagging.
