A PHD IN TAYLOR SWIFT
MELBOURNE. − From the moment she slipped the Fearless record into her CD player as a 14-year-old, Georgia Carroll has been fascinated by Taylor Swift.
A decade and a half on, she’s now touted as the only person in the world with a PhD on the superstar.
Her assessment? “At the moment, it wouldn’t be going too far to say [Swift] is one of the most powerful people in the world.”
That’s why Dr Carroll is among scores of experts who have descended on Melbourne this week for an international academic symposium attempting to explain just how Swift has become so influential.
The event − the first of its kind − is a curtain raiser to the Eras Tour in Australia, and has attracted more than 400 submissions from dozens of study disciplines and academic institutions around the world sparking a flurry of excitement and global headlines.
There’s no denying ‘Taylor Mania’ has swept the world this past year − she was named Time Magazines’ Person of the Year in 2023 − and it’s unclear when that might fade.
On Monday, the 34-year-old again dominated the headlines with pictures of her and footballer boyfriend Travis Kelce winning at the Super Bowl.
Last week she cleaned up at the Grammys, taking home her fourth album of the year accolade.
Even her cats, her publicist and her childhood friends have name recognition and a loyal following.
“[Swift] has somehow become the most godlike superstar on the planet, bigger than I thought was even possible,” keynote speaker Brittany Spanos − a Rolling Stone reporter who in 2020 taught the first ever university course on the idol − told the conference.
But Swift has long found herself at the centre of huge cultural moments and debates, ever since shooting to stardom as a teenager.
She has become one of the highest-earning and most-celebrated artists of all time − all while igniting conversations about everything from streaming royalties and music ownership to misogyny and cancel culture. −