Taylor Swift is going to receive an honorary doctorate degree from New York University and will address the class of 2022 during the school’s graduation ceremony. The New York University (NYU) on March 28th this year issued a statement announcing that it will award Taylor Swift an honorary doctorate of fine arts on 18th May this year and the popstar will also address the class of 2022 at the Yankee Stadium. After 2019, it will be the first time New York University graduates will gather for graduation ceremony as earlier the in-person functions for the class of 2020 and 2021 were canceled owing to the pandemic.
The university in their statement referred to Taylor Swift as “one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation”, praising her achievements which include eleven Grammy awards and adding that she is the “only solo artist this century to have three albums reach No 1 in one year”. Earlier recipients of honorary degree from NYU include civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis, actor Billy Crystal and former US president Bill Clinton. The NYU’s Clive Davis Institute initiated its first ever course based on Taylor Swift. The course was started on 26th January, 2022 and resumed till 9th March, 2022, the course’s description is, “This course proposes to deconstruct both the appeal and aversions to Taylor Swift through close readings of her music and public discourse as it relates to her own growth as an artist and a celebrity. Through readings, lectures and more, the class delves into analyses of the culture and politics of teen girlhood in pop music, fandom, media studies, whiteness and power as it relates to her image and the image of those both preceded and succeeded her.”
Disability rights activist Judith Heumann will address the graduates in the evening at the Yankee Stadium, Heumann featured in the film “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” which was nominated in the 93rd Academy Awards in Best Documentary category. Judith Heumann wrote a book titled “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist” and also hosts a podcast called “The Heumann Perspective” based on conversations with members of the disability community. New York University president Andrew Hamilton said in a statement, “I cannot overstate how thrilled I am to be coming together in person with graduates, parents, faculty and honourees for NYU’s commencement. Since 2019, we have been deprived of commencement’s festive, communal joy, and its absence has been keenly felt,”
