Yale University is preparing to launch a groundbreaking course that puts a spotlight on Beyoncé’s cultural influence, diving deep into her role in shaping Black history, intellectual thought, and the experience of Black women in media and politics. Titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music,” the course will be taught by Daphne Brooks, a Yale professor of African American Studies and music, during the spring 2025 semester.
Professor Brooks plans to use Beyoncé’s music, fashion, and visual artistry, particularly works from 2013 through 2024, as a portal to explore the Black female experience and complex societal topics. The class will not only dissect Beyoncé’s aesthetic contributions but also look at her impact on Black radical intellectual tradition, engaging with works by prominent thinkers like Hortense Spillers, the Combahee River Collective, Cedric Robinson, and Karl Hagstrom Miller.
This new course at Yale builds on Brooks’ popular “Black Women in Popular Music Culture” course from her time at Princeton, where students responded enthusiastically to the sections focusing on Beyoncé. Brooks sees this class as an ideal way to study how Beyoncé’s career has evolved, particularly as she has leveraged her platform to address issues like social justice and gender equity. Brooks describes Beyoncé as uniquely capable of blending music with social consciousness, creating “longform multimedia projects” that invite grassroots activists to participate, bringing themes of race, gender, and history to a global stage.
Beyoncé’s extensive career, which spans a record 99 Grammy nominations and includes transformative projects like “Lemonade” and “Renaissance,” offers rich material for this kind of academic exploration. Brooks points out that Beyoncé is “an archive of historical memory,” tracing over 400 years of African American history through her art. Few, if any, artists match her ability to combine personal narrative with broader cultural and political themes, making her a subject of both scholarly and public interest.
Brooks anticipates high demand for the course but intends to keep the enrollment limited to ensure meaningful discussions. Despite the focus on Queen Bey, fans shouldn’t expect a surprise appearance; however, Brooks jokes that if Beyoncé were on tour, she’d take the class to see her.