Elizabeth Scala Explained
Elizabeth Scala is Ellen Clayton Garwood Centennial Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin.[1] A medievalist by training, she specializes in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, particularly his Canterbury Tales.[2] [3]
In the fall of 2022, a course she offered on the songwriting of Taylor Swift drew global attention, with Scala providing interviews to media outlets such as CNN, Billboard, Newsweek, NPR, BBC Radio 4, the New York Post, and PinkNews.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Titled Literary Contexts and Contests: The Taylor Swift Songbook, this course examined Swift's lyrics alongside those of canonical writers like William Shakespeare and Sylvia Plath, as well as Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca and Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 filmic adaptation of that novel.[11] [12] Although Swift had earlier been the focus of a New York University course which explored her musical entrepreneurship and celebrity,[13] Scala's emphasis on the literary devices of Swift's songs was among the first sustained efforts to place their lyrics in relation to the Western canon of literature.[14] [11]
Scala's scholarship includes The Canterbury Tales Handbook published by W. W. Norton & Company and Desire in the Canterbury Tales from Ohio State University Press.[15]
Notes and References
- Web site: Profile for Elizabeth Scala at UT Austin . 2023-08-27 . University of Texas . en.
- 10.17077/1536-8742.1766 . The Women in Chaucer's "Marriage Group" . 2009 . Scala . Elizabeth . Medieval Feminist Forum . 45 . 50–56.
- Web site: Smith . Peter J. . 2015-06-25 . Desire in the Canterbury Tales, by Elizabeth Scala . 2022-12-08 . . en.
- Web site: Karimi. Faith . The University of Texas is offering a class on the songs of Taylor Swift . . 25 August 2022 . August 27, 2023.
- Dailey . Hannah . 2022-08-24 . A 'Taylor Swift Songbook' Class Is Being Offered at the University of Texas . 2022-12-08 . . en-US.
- Web site: Mayer. Hannah. Taylor Swift is Latest Addition to Shakespeare Scholar's Course Offerings . . 22 August 2022. August 27, 2023 .
- Web site: Tong . Scott . Saxena . Kalyani . 8 December 2022 . How one English professor 'Enchanted' students with a course about Taylor Swift songs . 8 December 2022 . WBUR.
- Web site: Prof. Scala @ BBC 4 . 2022-08-24. August 27, 2023. .
- Web site: Messier . Ashlyn . 2022-08-23 . Educational Taylor Swift course offered to students at University of Texas this fall . . 2022-12-08 . en-US.
- Web site: Iftikhar . Asyia . 31 August 2022 . Professor explains why Taylor Swift university course is no waste of money . August 27, 2023 . PinkNews.
- Web site: Scala . Elizabeth . 2022-11-18 . Why I teach a course connecting Taylor Swift's songs to the works of Shakespeare, Hitchcock and Plath . 2022-12-08 . . en.
- Web site: Saldana . Sean . 2022-09-07 . This University of Texas professor knows Taylor Swift's songbook all too well . 2022-12-08 . . en-US.
- Web site: Aswad. Jem. Taylor Swift Course Launched at New York University's Clive Davis Institute . 2 February 2022. August 27, 2023 .
- Web site: Menchaca. Megan. A Taylor Swift class is coming to the University of Texas. Are you ready for it? . 2022-09-22. 2022-12-08 . Austin American-Statesman . en-US.
- Web site: The Canterbury Tales Handbook . 2022-12-08 . wwnorton.com . en.