Come this fall, one classroom is sure to be packed with Swifties as Queen’s University will be offering a course focused on the pop sensation in its law program.
The professor, admitted Swiftie Mohamed Khimji, said he’s looking forward to blending some of his passions: teaching, law and Taylor Swift.
“What makes the course unique is that the case studies are exclusively from Taylor Swift’s interactions with the law during the course of her career,” Khimji said.
It may surprise you to learn that there are many.
While the careless man’s careful daughter hasn’t been in criminal trouble, she has dealt with multiple copyright lawsuits and contractual battles over the ownership of her music, even taking on music streaming giant Spotify.
All these, Khimji said, are cannon fodder for the course.
“We’re all familiar with the famous example of Taylor Swift removing her music from Spotify, Taylor Swift re-recording her albums, which has had a huge impact on how record deals are negotiated today,” he said.
On campus, word is already spreading about the course, titled Law (Taylor’s Version).
“Yeah, I definitely know some Swifties that are sad to be graduating and not taking the class,” said Kevin Whittington, a third-year Queen’s law student.
“I was joking with my friends, ‘Should we take another year just to take it?” added Andrada Marinescu, also in third-year law.
It’s even reaching students in other programs.
“Honestly, I find it kind of exciting, because I know, like especially pop culture, she’s a super important figure in it,” fourth-year computer science student Connor Killingbeck said.
For Marinescu, a graduating law student and former member of the Queen’s Law Society council, blending pop culture and academia is a fun and innovative idea.
“Because our common law system is so precedential and based on case law, it’s always evolving, and in this sense we can’t really have a prejudicial view to pop culture or things that kind of push the boundaries because that really is what shapes the future of law and we can see it on a daily basis,” she said.
Come September, you won’t have to send a message in a bottle to get enrolled in this class.
You simply have to sign on the blank space, and get in your learning era.
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