A few fans expressed concerns on social media that the class would infringe on Harry’s privacy, but Louie reassured viewers on TikTok that the class “isn’t about his personal life.”
“The idea of the class is that we’re going to learn about the things that [Harry] puts out there, and through that lens learn more about his music, his artistry, and hopefully a little bit about ourselves,” Louie said in his TikTok.
Louie also shed some light on what the course’s syllabus would like, noting on Twitter that every One Direction album would be assigned homework. Louie also told CNN that Harry’s solo projects, his filmography, and work from the artists and thinkers that have inspired him — Susan Sontag, Alain de Botton, etc. — would also be included as course materials.
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Harry isn’t the first celebrity to be studied with a dedicated university course. This past February, it was announced that a class examining Taylor Swift’s musical impact and legacy would be offered at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute.
Within the past decade, a few other universities have also created buzz for their unique courses studying Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and Lady Gaga. Many of these courses analyze the celebrity’s career, but mostly investigate their cultural and societal impact through their work.
“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,” Louie said while speaking to CNN. “Self-expression, and comfort with oneself, is a big part of Harry’s message — along with treating people with kindness. A lot of people, myself included, feel like they’ve grown up with him— and so there is a connection.”
Louie shared that he’s hoping to one day create an online version of the course so that Harry fans worldwide can also study the popstar’s impact. But while we wait, we’ll keep closely studying clips from Love On Tour. Research, right?