Texas State University To Offer Class on Harry Styles

Texas State University is set to offer the very first class on Harry Styles this Spring 2023.

Led by associate professor Louie Dean Valencia, the course goes by the name “Harry Styles and the Cult of Celebrity: Identity, the Internet and European Pop Culture” and will widely explore the “cultural and political development of the modern celebrity as related to questions of gender and sexuality, race, class, nation and globalism, media, fashion, fan culture, internet culture and consumerism” — topics Valencia told CNN he has frequently spoken to students about after discussing Styles’ music. “I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with students over the last two years that started with a shared love of Harry’s music, but that quickly went into larger societal questions about gender, sexuality, race, gun control, sustainability because of Harry’s art,” he added.

The class will utilize Styles’ catalog ranging from his work with One Direction to his solo records, foray into acting and art that inspired the musician, such as Susan Sontag’s writing and Alain de Botton’s philosophy. More importantly, the associate professor hopes his students will recognize that they are experiencing Styles as he paves a historic path and that they will be inspired by “the same self-acceptance and unbridled joy that a Styles concert does.”

“Self-expression, and comfort with oneself, is a big part of Harry’s message — along with treating people with kindness,” Valencia said. “A lot of people, myself included, feel like they’ve grown up with him — and so there is a connection.”

It’s official, official. I’m teaching the world’s first ever university course on the work of #HarryStyles is happening Spring 2023 at @TXST University (see description).

This is what tenure looks like. Let’s gooooo! 😊 pic.twitter.com/1z3vMZoxRV

— Louie Dean Valencia (@BurntCitrus) July 16, 2022

Elsewhere in music, The Chainsmokers will be sent to space in 2024.