Over the years, the number of college-level courses on songwriters and performers offered by universities worldwide has been steeply rising: from classes on Bob Dylan’s writing technique to Taylor Swift’s lyrics and legacy in pop culture, musicians seem like an ideal subject for deeper academic study. 

Yale University, part of the Ivy League, is the latest to embrace this new educational initiative following Cornell University, and is set to offer starting in Spring 2025 a new course titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics through Music”, led by African American Studies and music professor Daphne Brooks. The class will explore Beyoncé's cultural impact, focusing on her work from 2013 to 2024 as a vehicle to examine themes in Black history, intellectual thought, performance, and the Black female experience in media and politics.  

A symbol of her lasting influence beyond the music scene is also the Premiere Tower skyscraper in Melbourne, designed by the architecture firm Elenberg Fraser in 2015, where its undulating, sinuous form pays homage to the fabric-draped bodies featured in her 2013 music video Ghost.

Opening image: Photo Ralph_PH