Skidmore College Will Offer a Class on Miley Cyrus
And no, we're not talking about twerking lessons.
March 27, 2014 -- Ever dream of studying Miley Cyrus?
Well, that dream is becoming a reality for Skidmore College students this summer.
The liberal arts college, located in Saratoga Springs, New York, is offering a special topics sociology course entitled "The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media," which will be "using Miley as a lens through which to explore sociological thinking about identity, entertainment, media and fame."
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Professor Carolyn Chernoff told ABC News that the class will use Cyrus's public persona as the basis of discussion, as much of what we know of her is based on a media reconstrucution of who she really is. This will be a very different course, she said, from the Rutgers University class focusing on Beyoncé.
"Unfortunately, the way we talk about female pop stars and female bodies, class matters, gender matters, sexuality and sexual performance matters, but race matters a lot [too] and the way we talk about white pop stars is quite different than how we talk about the bodies of women of color," she noted. "[Cyrus] complicates representations of the female body in pop culture in some ways that are good, bad, and ugly."
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Chernoff added that the class will also explore Cyrus's shift from "Hannah Montana" star to pop icon and how her on-stage antics have led to discussions about her sexuality.
Scheduled to be an intensive summer course for students looking to delve deeper into specific topics, Chernoff said she's had an enthusiastic response from the college staff.
"Their motto is, 'creative thought matters,' and they understand," she said.
While there's been no response from Cyrus, 21, yet, Chernoff said she'd be open to having her speak, if she was interested. Time will tell.