Australia to host Taylor Swift academic symposium

SYDNEY (AFP): An Australian university says it will host an academic symposium on Taylor Swift, exploring her impact on gender, literature, the economy and the music industry.

Scholars will gather at Melbourne University for “Swiftposium 2024” from February 11-13 to delve into a “broad range of academic disciplines” related to the 33-year-old pop icon.

The university this week issued a call for academic papers to be submitted ahead of the learned meeting, which is being organised along with six other universities across Australia and New Zealand.

“Swiftposium is a hybrid academic conference for scholars to engage in critical dialogue about Swift’s popularity and its profound implications for a range of issues,” it said.

Among the main themes are the phenomenon of Swift fandom, the economic impacts of Swift’s touring and cultural prominence, her relationship with gender, sexuality, feminism and LGBTQ+ rights, intellectual property, and literary interpretations.

Swift is taking a break from her wildly popular international tour that began in March — performances will resume in November and run late into next year.

In the meantime, she is hitting the silver screen: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is slated for release on October 13.