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Last month, the University of Waterloo in Canada announced a course called entitled Gender and Performance Drama 282, which is entirely centered around Beyonce and her 2013 self-titled album. Now, the professor, who is spearheading the course, is explaining what inspired the class.
In a piece she’s written for the Huffington Post, Professor Naila Keleta-Mae reveals that she believes Queen Bey is among the most influential storytellers of the 21st century. “She uses visuals and music to tell young people around the world what it means to be a woman, wife, mother and feminist,” Keleta-Mae writes of the icon.
Aside from the singer’s social media presence, groundbreaking visual album and influence on pop culture, Keleta-Mae notes that Beyonce is a remarkable study.
“She combines her voice, appearance and public persona with an astute manipulation of audio and visual media to tell the stories that she wants to tell to the audience she wants to reach,” Keleta-Mae writes. “That’s a remarkable amount of power for a 33-year-old, African-American woman to have amassed in an industry predominantly run by men in a country that is predominantly white.”
The fall 2015 drama course at the University of Waterloo joins a growing list of Beyonce inspired classes on campus — Rutgers University’s offered a course called “Politicizing Beyonce” back in 2012.
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