Harry Styles wows fans with Lizzo duet at Coachella. Video / Darren Zimmet via Youtube
Harry Styles is about to make his college debut.
The British singer has captivated the masses for years, first for his time in the boyband One Direction and now as a solo artist and his popularity has inspired a university professor.
Harry Styles has inspired a university course. Photo / Getty Images
People Magazine reported Dr Louie Dean Valencia, a professorat Texas State University's Honors College, announced he is introducing a new course in spring 2023, which will largely focus on Styles and the "cult of celebrity".
Valencia made the announcement with a tweet that included an email from the college confirming the class and an official course description.
The tweet read, "It's official, official. I'm teaching the world's first ever university course on the work of Harry Styles is happening Spring 2023 at @TXSTUniversity,"
Valencia added, "This is what tenure looks like. Let's gooooo!"
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).
One of the attached photos gave an outline of the class, "This course focuses on British musician Harry Styles and popular European culture to understand 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".
The tweet quickly went viral, with many fans expressing their interest in the class. One said, "I have never wanted to be in the honours college so bad," while another said, "damn, wish it was international."
Another fan asked if the star was "okay with you teaching a course on his private life?" to which Valencia replied, "We will not focus on his private life, only his art and public activism and the film, literature, philosophy, music he has acknowledged as influential. Just in the way we study the work of Shakespeare, Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf or any great artist."
Speaking to NBC New York earlier this week, the professor revealed his inspiration for the course was sparked in mid-2020 during the pandemic when travelling was almost impossible.
Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan of One Direction. Photo / Getty Images
"This class came out of research that I started when locked at home during the summer of 2020 listening to Harry's music," he explained.
"When I couldn't travel to do my regular research, I started researching Harry — focusing on his art, the ways masculinity has changed in the last decade, celebrity culture and the internet."
He also revealed to the news outlet he has always wanted to "teach a history class that is both fun but covers a period that students have lived through and relate to".
Valencia added, "I think it's so important for young people to see what is important to them reflected in their curriculum."
While it is not yet known how Styles feels about the course, Valencia said it is his "dream" to have the star join the class for a session either in person or via Zoom.
