{"id":77587,"date":"2026-04-08T11:44:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T18:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=77587"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T21:34:28","slug":"taylor-swift-rhetoric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/taylor-swift-rhetoric\/","title":{"rendered":"Honey, life is just a classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rhetoric is one of the oldest academic subjects, so when you hear the word, you might picture a bunch of men in togas gathered in an ancient amphitheater.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That dusty, fusty mental image?\u00a0<\/span>Shake it off.\u00a0When it comes to teaching rhetoric, pop royalty works just as well as Plato.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTaylor Swift is so famous, so prolific, so omnipresent,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Kim Hensley Owens<\/span><\/b>, a professor of English at NAU. \u201cShe\u2019s\u00a0written a song about every single life situation. People have written master\u2019s theses about her music and her fame. Even people who\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know her songs have an opinion about her.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"three<\/a>
In ENG 399, students analyze Taylor Swift’s lyrics…and pay tribute to them by making friendship bracelets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s\u00a0why\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0the perfect focal point for a rhetoric class with broad appeal, Hensley Owens said. Two years ago, the professor created her Swift-centered class and watched the registrations roll in. Students from every corner of NAU packed her classroom. Most were die-hard\u00a0Swifties, but some were just Swift-curious.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now in its second year, the popular ENG 399: Taylor Swift and the Rhetoric of (Almost) Everything uses pop to help students\u00a0use language to make sense of\u2014and even shape\u2014the world around them.\u00a0Through close analysis of Swift\u2019s music, classroom debates and interactive group projects connecting her persona, publicity and productions, Hensley Owens\u2019 students learn how to craft a bulletproof argument\u00a0<\/span>all too well\u00a0using emotion,\u00a0logic\u00a0and sources.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The professor said her course is valuable for\u00a0just about any\u00a0student. After all, persuasive communication\u00a0<\/span>never goes out of style.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis class gives students the confidence to express their ideas and to form well-supported critical arguments,\u201d Hensley Owens said. \u201cIt helps them gain awareness of how news articles can manipulate our thoughts and feelings. It teaches them how to analyze text. Taylor Swift is a great avenue for teaching these things because everyone knows who she is.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A semester-long \u2018Eras Tour\u2019<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Before teaching\u00a0ENG 399, Hensley Owens had always liked Swift\u2019s music but\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0have labeled herself a\u00a0Swiftie.<\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then came Spring 2025 and a class full of supercharged Swift fans. Through them, the professor found out all about Swift\u2019s \u201cEaster eggs\u201d\u2014cleverly\u00a0coded hints she leaves in lyric booklets, carefully chosen outfits and Instagram captions to hint to fans that a new release is on the way. And she was introduced to some deep cuts in Swift\u2019s catalog that\u00a0contained\u00a0thoughtful lyrics about loss,\u00a0regret\u00a0and imposter syndrome.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe more I learned from them, the more I thought, \u2018This\u00a0Swiftie\u00a0world is super cool,\u2019\u201d Hensley Owens said.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her syllabus has since evolved into a rainbow-colored, lyric-filled journey through Swift\u2019s lyrics, visuals, music,\u00a0feminism\u00a0and fans. Over the course of six \u201ceras,\u201d or units, her students learn the basics of rhetoric while also getting to know Swift a little better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Kim\u2019s Swift picks<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Favorite album: Tie between \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl\u201d and \u201cMidnights\u201d
\nFavorite song: \u201cMean\u201d<\/em>
\nFavorite Track 5: \u201cEldest Daughter\u201d
\nFavorite bridges: \u201cCardigan\u201d and \u201cFather Figure\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

On top of keeping reading and\u00a0listening\u00a0journals outside of class, students also analyze the singer\u2019s lyrics, music\u00a0videos\u00a0and press interviews in the classroom, sometimes with costume designers and lighting experts from the Department of Theatre. They engage in debates about which lyrics pack the most emotional punch (is it \u201cI\u2019ll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep\u201d or \u201cThe deflation of our dreaming leaving me bereft and reeling\u201d?), which of her public comments worked (\u201cThere\u2019s always some standard of beauty that you\u2019re not meeting\u201d) and which rang hollow (\u201cI would very much like to be excluded from this narrative\u201d).\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These classroom debates have turned junior\u00a0<\/span>Henry Petterson<\/span><\/b>\u00a0from a sideliner (<\/span>it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0love; it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0hate; it was just indifference)\u00a0<\/span><\/i>to a Swift appreciator. His favorite was The Claim Game, where groups of students researched certain claims about Swift\u2014that\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0an unethical billionaire, or that she only gets political when\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0convenient for her career\u2014and used trusted sources to develop arguments for and against those claims.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore this class, I thought about her music primarily as something for younger people, or for girls, as I didn’t have much understanding of her work,\u201d the English major said. But as he learned more about the rhetorical devices Swift uses in her lyrics to combat critics\u2019 claims, he gained an appreciation for her music\u2019s connection \u201cto larger movements, including feminism and the feminine experience in the music industry.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Taylor Swift is my entire life right now\u2019<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Hensley Owens said she created Taylor Swift and the Rhetoric of (Almost) Everything in response to her department\u2019s requests for English classes that would meet students where they are.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With a teen daughter at home, Hensley Owens knew exactly where they were: in their rooms, blasting Swift\u2019s music to help them process heartbreak, bullying and <\/span>bad blood with friends<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"Students<\/a>
Interactive projects throughout the semester have students debating and bonding.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That was certainly true for\u00a0<\/span>Lisa Smith<\/span><\/b>, a literature major in the class this semester.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe has always been a part of my life,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI grew up listening to her music casually, mostly \u2018Fearless\u2019 or \u20181989\u2019 and \u2018reputation.\u2019 It\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0until she released \u2018folklore\u2019 and \u2018evermore\u2019 that I started to pay attention to her lyricism. I am\u00a0definitely a\u00a0fan.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But even the biggest Swift superfans can learn something in this classroom. In Smith\u2019s case,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0gained more confidence analyzing lyrics as poetry, decoding the meaning behind writing devices like repetition, allusion and simile and thinking about how a song about a specific topic can connect to broader social movements.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can look at the deep lyricism in her music and think about what is influencing her writing, like societal standards and misogyny,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThis is a skill I can carry into my literature classes where I\u00a0have to\u00a0analyze the language of other writing. It will be useful for my career aspirations because I love language, and I want to find a career where I can continue analyzing it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With thoughtful students like these, the spring semester\u00a0<\/span>slips away like a moment in time, Hensley Owens said.\u00a0She\u2019s\u00a0heartened to hear about the impact\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0made on them: One student said he used to make fun of his sister for liking Swift, but taking this class helped him reckon with his internalized misogyny and apologize. Another said\u00a0she\u2019d\u00a0never gathered the courage to talk in class until this semester, but thanks to ENG 399,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0become more confident and speaks up in her classes all the time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of them will tell me, \u2018I\u2019ve never thought about Taylor Swift, I\u2019ve only\u00a0<\/span>felt<\/span><\/i>\u00a0about Taylor Swift, but this class made me think more critically and I liked that,\u2019\u201d she said.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hensley Owens can relate. A woman she once considered a teenybopper with some fun hits is now\u00a0<\/span>her temple, her\u00a0mural\u00a0and her sky. On top of this course,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0the faculty advisor for the NAU Taylor Swift Society, founded by a Lumberjack in search of like-minded friends after the COVID-19 pandemic. This summer,\u00a0she\u2019ll\u00a0lead a graduate seminar called Teaching with Taylor Swift. In her free time, she listens to podcasts like \u201cThe\u00a0Swiftie\u00a0and the Scholar.\u201d\u00a0Plus,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0co-editing a collection of essays about using the pop star as an education tool. The volume captures insights from 20 academics who have used Swift to teach everything from rhetoric to religion across multiple continents.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTaylor Swift is my entire life right now,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cI never thought I\u2019d say that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>
\n\"Northern<\/span><\/p>\n


\nJill Kimball | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-2282 | jill.kimball@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rhetoric is one of the oldest academic subjects, so when you hear the word, you might picture a bunch of men in togas gathered in an ancient amphitheater.\u202f\u00a0 That dusty, fusty mental image?\u00a0Shake it off.\u00a0When it comes to teaching rhetoric, pop royalty works just as well as Plato.\u00a0 \u201cTaylor Swift is so famous, so prolific,…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":77594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}