University Offers Beyoncé Politics Class

Students to study R&B queen's significance to feminism...

A university in America is offering students the chance to take a class on Beyoncé and her cultural and political impact, it has been reported.

The Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the well-regarded Rutgers University in New Jersey is offering students the opportunity to take a class entitled "Politicising Beyoncé".

Taught by PhD student Kevin Allred, the class promises to look at Bey's public image, her videos, her lyrics and her alter ego Sasha Fierce - and these elements are related to mainstream feminist figures.

Allred told the university's website: "This isn't a course about Beyoncé's political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama's inauguration weekend.

"She certainly pushes boundaries. While other artists are simply releasing music, she's creating a grand narrative around her life, her career, and her persona."

And he rejected suggestions that, as a white male, he might not be best-placed to lecture people about Beyoncé.

He continued: "Of course, there are people who'll say, 'You're not black. You're not a woman'. It's something I'm always questioning and staying aware of so as not to overstep any bounds or make any claims for a group that I don't belong to.

"It's a fine line and I want to remain respectful of that."

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