Class is in session for Lana Del Rey fans. New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music has launched a new course for this fall centered around the singer-songwriter.
The two-credit course, titled “Topics in Recorded Music: Lana Del Rey,” is taught by journalist and author Kathy Iandoli and will run from October 20 to December 8, according to Variety. According to the course description, “Over the course of eight critically-acclaimed albums, the six-time Grammy nominated artist has introduced a sad core, melancholic, and baroque version of dream pop that in turn helped shift and reinvent the sound (and mood) of mainstream music beyond the 2010s. Through her arresting visuals and her thematic attention to mental health and tales of toxic, damaged love, Del Rey provided a new platform for artists of all genders to create ‘anti-pop’ works of substance that could live in a mainstream once categorized as bubblegum.”
The course will also examine Del Rey’s relationship to feminism, musical influences and connection to social justice movements.
Earlier this year, the Clive Davis Institute also offered a course on Taylor Swift, which delved into the superstar’s journey as a creative music entrepreneur, the legacy of pop and country songwriters that have influenced the star and how discourses of youth and girlhood are exploited in the media and music industry.
In May, Swift delivered the commencement address to New York University’s Class of 2022, sharing wisdom as an honorary doctor of fine arts.
