university florida campus tour

Your browser is not supported for this experience. We recommend using Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari.

Find Your Favorite Beach

Atlantic Coast

Beach Camping

Family-Friendly

Places to stay.

Campgrounds

Travel Ideas

Accessible Travel

Eco-Friendly Travel

African American Heritage Travel

More Travel Ideas

Popular links.

Florida Webcams

Toll Roads Info

Travel Guides

Campus attractions at the university of florida.

By Florence Beth Snyder

The University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville is a preeminent research institution, but visitors can be forgiven for thinking they’ve stumbled onto a soundstage for one of those 1930s college musicals.

With its Gothic Revival architecture and 20 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, UF’s 2,000 acres are a movie location scout’s ideal of what a university should look like. More than 50,000 students from more than 130 countries and all 50 states complete the picture of a campus straight out of central casting. Any day is a good day for a self-guided walking tour of the university’s Historic District . A good place to start is the 157-foot-tall Century Tower, a moving tribute to UF alumni and students who perished in the World Wars of the 20th century. One of only four carillon towers in Florida, Century Tower's 61 bells can sing a five-octave range. The carillon sits at the top of 194 steps and weighs an astounding 57,760 pounds. You can enjoy the Tower’s rendition of “Florida Chimes” on the quarter-hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and listen anytime on YouTube . The Plaza of the Americas is the focal point of the Roaring 20s-era landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted’s sons, John Charles and Frederick Law Jr. It’s a great place to picnic and people-watch.

Just west of the Historic District is Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the 88,548-seat venue where UF’s football team plays its home games.

- Brad McClenny for VISIT FLORIDA

Just west of the Historic District is Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the 88,548-seat venue where UF’s football team plays its home games. UF’s national reputation as a football school dates back almost a century, and the stadium is practically a shrine for those who wear the orange-and-blue of the “Gator Nation” and T-shirts bearing pictures of Albert, the school’s alligator mascot. When the stadium is not occupied with practices and home games, visitors are welcome to jog around the concourse, run the steps, or just hang out in the stands and enjoy the Florida sunshine.  On your way in, check out the life-size bronze statues of Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow, as well as the Heavener Football Complex , which houses a museum highlighting Gator football history. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is nicknamed The Swamp, and not just because of UF’s alligator theme. The stadium’s bowled-in architecture is notable for steep stands that put spectators close to the field, and acoustics that amplify crowd noise to eardrum-shattering levels. None of this bothers rabid Florida alumni, whose seats on the west side are shaded by the press box. The visiting team’s supporters have no place to hide from a broiling game day sun. It all adds up to a notorious home-field advantage for UF fans; they have the statistics to back up their brag that "ONLY Gators get out alive." Tourists in search of more cerebral pursuits can always find interesting ways to pass the time at the UF Cultural Plaza, home of the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts , the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Harn Museum of Art . The Florida Museum has been, since 1891, the official curator and champion of the Sunshine State’s rich and diverse natural history. In recent years, it has evolved in to an internationally recognized institution committed to “Inspiring people to care about life on Earth.”

A pair of butterflies search for nectar in the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville.

Highlights include the Butterfly Rainforest , a live-action exhibit filled with free-flying butterflies and birds from around the world, along with up-close-and-personal looks at turtles and fish amidst an appealing tropical landscape. If you dare to explore the darker side of nature, visit the Museum’s Bat Colony , home to 300,000 residents of the Bat House and Bat Barn. Every night is Halloween in that 15- to 20-minute window just after sunset and before total darkness, when temperatures are above 65 degrees, as they almost always are.  An observation area is provided, but bring your own plastic protective gear because you never know what might fall from the sky. The bats and butterflies are best appreciated in person, and once you meet them, you’ll want to see them again soon. Thanks to UF’s “ Critter Cams ,” you can, 24/7. The Harn Museum of Art collection includes thousands of pieces of African, Asian, modern and contemporary art, as well as photography with significant representations of Ancient American and oceanic art. The 40,000-plus square feet of exhibition space is surrounded by five peaceful garden spaces, and the Harn’s Camellia Court Cafe is a relaxing lunch spot for Museum-goers, or those stopping by the Phillips Center to buy tickets for an upcoming show. When the Gators wish to commune with real ‘gators, they head to Lake Alice, a small and beautiful body of water where alligators allow people to watch and be astounded ... from a distance. The Baughman Center at Lake Alice is a 96-seat miniature medieval cathedral built from Florida cypress, yellow pine and copper, featuring three shades of travertine marble flooring. Weddings, funerals and small musical performances bring guests to the pavilion, but most of the traffic comes from individuals who stop by to think and meditate in a serene and splendid setting.

When you go… University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 (352) 392-3261

places to remember

Gainesville

related content

Offbeat & Extraordinary: 5 Unforgettable Florida Tours

• 4 minute read

A behind-the-scenes candy factory tour at Sweet Pete’s in Jacksonville ends with a custom-made chocolate bar. - Sweet

A Walking Tour of Worth Avenue in Palm Beach

By Steve Winston Addison Mizner, the man who founded Worth Avenue in Palm Beach in the early 1900s, was a lot heavier than Rick Rose. And Rose...

Hollywood History Lives On, Aboard the African Queen

By Carlos Harrison She may be the only real movie star residing in Key Largo. Certainly she’s the only one still reprising her most famous role...

American Ghost Adventures: Not Just a Stroll in the Dark

• 1 minute read

By Lauren Tjaden The difference between a tour with American Ghost Adventures and a tour through a typical haunted house is the difference between a...

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE PARTNERS

Alert text would go here.

Dolphin Dash February 5-9, 2024

Thank you Dolphin family for an incredible week of giving! Together, you raised $4,255,829 for Jacksonville University's students and programs! Phins up!

IMPACT ENGAGE INSPIRE

Thank you to the 8,004 Dolphins worldwide who Dashed for JU. Together, you GAVE FORWARD and raised more than $4.2 million for the future of Jacksonville University. Thank you, and Phins Up!

Homecoming & Family Weekend

Welcome to the most PHINtastic weekend on campus! Alumni, families, friends, and fans are invited to Jacksonville University’s 70 th annual Homecoming & Family Weekend, October 7-10, 2021.

SUPPORT JU FROM HEAD TO TOE

It’s officially the start of the holiday shopping season, and Jacksonville University is getting in on the fun! Make a gift of $30 or more to the Nellie Student Support Fund and three things will happen……

• You’ll ensure that Jacksonville University students will continue to receive emergency funding when they need it the most,
• We’ll send you your choice of limited-edition JU socks or a JAX beanie as our way of saying thanks, and
• Get your new gear in the mail in time to wear for the holidays!

Maintenance

The Controller's Office is conducting annual work that requires a few hours of down time for tools like My JU, Web Advisor, and Self Service. During this time, other key services are still available. Some quick shortcuts:

A Bold New Brand

Our student athletes are making history, and it's time for the world to recognize them. We've launched a bold new brand for Jacksonville Athletics that both celebrates our history and marks our trajectory. We are the Jacksonville University Dolphins, and we Dare To Be Bold.

See the BOLD New Brand

We have a lot to celebrate this year: the completion of the ASPIRE Campaign, a bold new Athletics brand, the start of several new construction projects, and, most importantly, our growing class of Phins. We can’t wait to celebrate with our Forever Phins this weekend, October 12-14.

View the Schedule

Thank You for BELIEVING

Together, we BELIEVED in what a Jacksonville University education can do and its impact on the next generation of Dolphin students and leaders. It's not too late to pitch in for a future Dolphin.

Alumni, Family, and Friends: Watch Live!

The College Tour, an Emmy-nominated show on Amazon Prime with millions of viewers worldwide, chose to feature Jacksonville University as their Season 5 finale episode, and you're invited to the exclusive early access premiere !

Join us LIVE on YouTube as we watch together virtually starting at 7 p.m. EDT.

The FUTURE. MADE. campaign is the most ambitious fundraising initiative to date at Jacksonville University. FUTURE. MADE. represents our core identity and mission: building a better future. It’s who we are and it’s what we do. Learn more about how together we will transform students' lives for a better tomorrow.

Popular Searches

• Majors & Programs
• Tuition & Costs
• Employment Opportunities
• Order Transcripts (Through Parchment)
• Maps & Directions to Our Locations

Visit Us In-Person and Virtual Visits

« Back to the Office of Admissions

Welcome to the pod, Future Phin! We're excited for you to get a glimpse of life at Jacksonville University through our campus tours, videos, virtual sessions, FAQs, and other digital resources. Have fun exploring your future and PHINS UP!

The Future is Yours

Apply Today

Campus Tour

Our student-led campus tours are a great way to experience Jacksonville University. You'll have the opportunity to learn more about your program of interest and explore our beautiful river-front campus. Incoming freshman students can earn our $1,000 visit grant for attending an on-campus tour!

SCHEDULE A CAMPUS TOUR

Future Phin Day 

Spend the day on campus and get a glimpse of what life is like at Jacksonville University! Immerse yourself in your academic interests through hands-on experiences, meet your future classmates, and explore campus clubs and activities at our organization fair.

2024 Future Phin Day Dates

February 24 | March 22  | March 23 | April 6

SIGN UP FOR FUTURE PHIN DAY

Virtual Experiences  

See all Jacksonville University has to offer right from the comfort of your own home. Sign up for a virtual event, take an interactive virtual

campus tour , or watch our campus tour video.

Virtual Events

VIRTUAL CAMPUS TOUR

  Get Your Questions Answered

Fill out the form below to receive more information from our admissions counselors, in addition, check out our FAQ page for a list of frequently asked questions.

• Online Español
• Online Inglés
• Campus de Metro Orlando
• Campus de South Florida
• Campus de Tampa Bay
• Biblioteca Virtual
• Portal de Estudiantes / Facultad
• Estudiante Consumidor
• Formulario de Solicitud del Estudiante
• Contáctenos

¡Nuestro Campus Tour fue todo un éxito!

Este pasado sábado se dio de forma exitosa el Campus Tour, Un evento diseñado expresamente para brindarle al futuro estudiante universitario un recorrido por nuestros campus y la presentación del ofrecimiento académico. Gracias a todos los que nos acompañaron y pudieron ver porque Ana G. Méndez University es la institución de los hispanos en la Florida Central.

Acreditada por la Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Licenciada por el Florida Commission for Independent Education, Licencia Num. 7756, 7859, 7860 y 7861. Puede obtenerse información adicional sobre esta institución poniéndose en contacto con la Comisión en 325 West Gaines Street, Suite 1414, Tallahassee, FL 32309-0400, número de teléfono gratuito (888)224-6684

 Copyright © AGMU 2021. All Rights Reserved

• Correo Electrónico
• Service Desk

Taylor Swift is now a class at the University of Miami. What will the students learn?

A University of Miami vice dean’s own homework assignment last year — learn all you can about Taylor Swift’s songs as fast as you can — has led to one of the coming fall semester’s hottest classes on the Coral Gables campus.

Students were more than ready for it. The UM’s “Mastermind Taylor Swift Brand” strategic communication class filled up at a pace almost as fast as tickets sold out last August for the superstar’s three South Florida concerts in October 2024. Those shows open the second U.S. leg of Swift’s Eras Tour at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium.

Ayana George, a UM freshman marketing major, is one of the lucky to score a seat in the class. The course description “piqued her interest,” she said.

“My passion for understanding how brands evolve and grow successful entities like Taylor Swift led me to join this course,” George said. “I believe this course offers a fresh perspective.”

READ MORE: How to avoid ticket scams that can shake you off Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Miami

When registration opened this month at UM for the 150-capacity class that’s open to all majors and begins Aug. 20, all seats filled within four days. The school raised the cap to 175. There is now a waiting list for STC 290. UM might add more seats for the Tuesday-Thursday 75-minute class.

Not every student is a self-described “Swiftie.”

“While I’m not specifically a ‘Swiftie,’ I do appreciate the approaches that she took to enhance her brand and shape the music industry,” George said. “In the end, I hope that I gain a comprehensive understanding of how to develop effective brand strategies, while also recognizing this talented artist and listening to some amazing music.”

How a UM Swift class was born

For Alyse Lancaster, UM’s vice dean for academic affairs in the School of Communication, that “Mastermind Taylor Swift Brand” class she formulated and will teach is a family affair.

The class is happening because her daughter Gabi planted the idea. And her son Sydney, a sophomore at the University of Florida majoring in interior design, designed the class’s promotional poster, which UM students have seen around campus since March.

“Taylor Swift has been a staple in my house since my now-17-year-old daughter was 4 years old,” Lancaster told the Miami Herald in an email interview. “But it wasn’t until we were able to purchase pre-sale tickets for the Eras Tour concert that things changed on my end. My daughter told me that I needed to learn all of the songs on the Eras Tour set list, plus most of Taylor’s other songs — ‘because you never know what the two surprise songs she will perform at the concert’ and I need to be ready.”

Gabi made her mom a playlist. Lancaster listened intently.

Don’t blame me, love made me crazy/If it doesn’t, you ain’t doin’ it right blasting on Lancaster’s exercise walks.

And you call me up again just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest , Taylor’s dig at ex-beau Jake Gyllenhaal, coming from Lancaster’s car stereo on those drives to and from campus in Miami’s infernal traffic jams.

All this cramming of Swift’s music gave the educator plenty of contemplative and creative time.

“Then she and I went to see the Eras Tour movie and while watching this incredible woman perform for 3.5 hours straight, through nine eras of her music, interacting with her over-the-moon-excited, completely engaged audience, I finally understood what the big deal is,” Lancaster said.

On one of those walks, the idea for the class hit Lancaster like an immediate, enchanted revelation, much like words and music come to Swift. She knew she had to teach a communication-strategy class at UM built around Swift’s brand.

Swift in academia from UF to Harvard

Other places of higher education have designed courses around the pop star.

Last fall, the University of Miami’s School of Law had an adjunct professor teach a seven-week intensive class called “Intellectual Property Law Through the Lens of Taylor Swift.”

KNOW MORE: ‘Genius’: UM law school offers a class on Taylor Swift’s intellectual property empire

The University of Florida’s one-credit discussion-based spring 2024 class, “ Musical Storytelling With Taylor Swift and Other Iconic Female Artists,” filled its 15 spots in 10 seconds when early registration opened last fall, the campus newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, reported.

In the last year, Stanford University has offered “All Too Well (Ten Week Version),” a course analyzing Swift’s 10-minute masterpiece, “All Too Well” and “The Last Great American Songwriter: Storytelling With Taylor Swift Through the Eras.”

Harvard’s Department of English opened its “ Taylor Swift and Her World ” course this spring, promising to cover “illicit affairs and hoaxes” and “champagne problems and incomplete closure.”

Berklee College of Music in Boston offers a “Songs of Taylor Swift” class with a focus on the performer’s music composition and lyrics, The Boston Globe reported.

In addition to Lancaster’s coming UM class, Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, Houston’s Rice University, the University of Delaware and the University of California, Berkeley all plan Swift-inspired courses in 2024, according to Best Colleges.

“I typically teach courses in advertising strategy development and social media strategies,” Lancaster said. “These classes focus on brand-building, identifying and communicating with the desired target audience, building brand loyalty, and using social media to build a long-lasting relationship between the brand and its loyal audience. And it occurred to me that Taylor Swift has successfully built a billion-dollar brand with a multicultural, multi-generational, global audience of millions of loyal fans.

“So why not use Taylor Swift’s success and business prowess as the foundation for teaching students about brand-building, audience-building, and the importance of communication in achieving those relationships? And just like that, the class was born,” Lancaster said.

What students will learn

Students who managed to secure a seat for UM’s STC 290 in the fall will learn about the marketing and communication strategies that Swift has used to build her billion-dollar brand via “the most diverse and loyal group of fans many of us have ever seen,” Lancaster said.

Take Emma Craig, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering at UM.

“It’s going to be a ‘Cruel Summer’ waiting until fall for the new Taylor Swift class coming to UM,” the student told The Miami Hurricane campus newspaper in anticipation of registration for the course.

For “Mastermind,” the class title borrowed from one of Swift’s “Midnights” tracks, Lancaster’s lectures aim to teach students how to use promotional, persuasive and strategic communication to build a connection with a target audience, and how to get that audience invested in the brand, Lancaster said as she builds her syllabus.

School of Communication issues such as freedom of expression, the right to privacy for public figures, and the legal limits of using artificial intelligence to alter images are also on the course agenda.

“These are skills students can use not only in the industry, but also in building their own personal brands after graduation,” Lancaster said.

Swift’s own education path

For Swift, 34, that brand-building began inside a classroom in Hendersonville, Tennessee, when she was a high-school freshman in a math class, she told the Miami Herald in an interview published in January 2008, just a month after she turned 18.

While her peers listened to the teacher lecture about algebra a few years earlier, Swift said she scribbled the lyrics to her first two hits, “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops on My Guitar,” in her notebook and sneaked out of class to record voice memos into her telephone.

At 17, signed to her first label, Swift already directed nearly every aspect of her career: the images on her album covers and press photos, the songs’ sequencing on her albums and other things. Swift said nothing was released to the marketplace that she hadn’t approved.

“When teachers conducted random notebook checks, they’d be freaked out — but they learned to deal with me,” Swift mused in that long-ago interview.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift’s first Miami Herald interview from 2008

Knowledge retention

Taylor Swift, Lancaster says, is “in essence, a phenomenon who truly understands many of the important constructs we cover in higher education, including persuasive communication, branding, storytelling, intellectual property, and the power of music.”

One reason that universities have taken to teaching Swift, aside from the Eras-like sellout registrations for classes, is the courses give professors an opportunity to teach concepts that students might actually remember after graduation.

“If students can connect the information they learn to something that’s of great interest to them, they will not only remember that information, but they will be reminded of it whenever the topic of interest comes up. Using Taylor Swift as the impetus for teaching important concepts increases attention, learning, and retention. And plus, it makes learning fun,” Lancaster said.

“I’ve never been more excited to teach a class than I am to teach this one!”

Miami Herald Staff Writer Howard Cohen teaches a digital writing class at the University of Miami and uses examples from Taylor Swift’s songwriting in lectures.

Taylor Swift says ‘Florida!!!’ Now there are parties across state. How to go and listen

©2024 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

University of South Florida

Main Navigation

USF shares new on-campus stadium renderings and an update on the groundbreaking ceremony

• April 11, 2024

USF Athletics , University News

By Adam Freeman , University Communications and Marketing

University of South Florida fans can start the countdown to seeing shovels in the ground to begin the construction of a transformational new on-campus stadium.  

USF announced today that a groundbreaking ceremony for the stadium will be held during the university’s annual Homecoming Week celebration, scheduled for Oct. 14-19, 2024. USF also released two new daytime renderings of the on-campus stadium, which follow the first set of renderings published in December.  

The new details shared today about the stadium follow this week’s selection of the highly experienced team of Manhattan Construction Company, H.J. Russell & Company and DuCon, LLC to serve as the construction manager for the new stadium. 

On Saturday afternoon, the USF football team will host its spring game in front of a sold-out crowd at Corbett Stadium.

USF’s on-campus stadium is scheduled to open in time for fall 2027.  More information on the project is available here .

Return to article listing

Adam Freeman , MyUSF , Stadium , USF Athletics , USF Football

News Archive

Learn more about USF's journey to Preeminence by viewing Newsroom articles from past years.

USF in the News

Business observer: usf embraces opportunities to connect with more businesses.

April 10, 2024

NPR: A professor worried no one would read an algae study. So she had it put to music

April 4, 2024

Tampa Bay Times: Tampa doctors fit device that restores arm movement to stroke victims

March 27, 2024

Associated Press: Debate emerges over whether modern protections could have saved Baltimore bridge

More USF in the News

• Life & Culture

Taylor Swift is now a class at a Florida university. What will students learn?

• Howard Cohen Miami Herald (TNS)

A University of Miami dean’s own homework assignment last year — learn all you can about Taylor Swift’s songs as fast as you can — has led to one of the coming fall semester’s hottest classes on the Coral Gables campus.

Students were more than ready for it. The UM’s “Mastermind Taylor Swift Brand” strategic communication class filled up at a pace almost as fast as tickets sold out last August for the superstar’s three South Florida concerts in October 2024. Those shows open the second U.S. leg of Swift’s Eras Tour at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium.

When registration opened earlier this month at UM for the 150-capacity class that’s open to all majors and begins Aug. 20, all seats filled within four days. The school raised the cap to 175. There is now a waiting list for STC 290. UM may add more seats for the Tuesday-Thursday 75-minute class.

How a UM Swift class was born

For Alyse Lancaster, UM’s vice dean for academic affairs in the School of Communication, that “Mastermind Taylor Swift Brand” class she formulated and will teach is a family affair.

The class is happening because her daughter Gabi planted the idea. And her son Sydney, a sophomore at the University of Florida majoring in interior design, designed the class’s promotional poster that UM students have seen around campus since March.

“Taylor Swift has been a staple in my house since my now-17-year-old daughter was 4 years old,” Lancaster told the Miami Herald in an email interview. “But it wasn’t until we were able to purchase pre-sale tickets for the Eras Tour concert that things changed on my end. My daughter told me that I needed to learn all of the songs on the Eras Tour set list, plus most of Taylor’s other songs — ‘because you never know what the two surprise songs she will perform at the concert’ and I need to be ready.”

Gabi made her mom a playlist. Lancaster listened intently.

Don’t blame me, love made me crazy/If it doesn’t, you ain’t doin’ it right blasting on Lancaster’s exercise walks.

And you call me up again just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest, Taylor’s dig at ex-beau Jake Gyllenhaal, coming from Lancaster’s car stereo on those drives to and from campus in Miami’s infernal traffic jams.

All this cramming of Swift’s music gave the educator plenty of contemplative and creative time.

“Then she and I went to see the Eras Tour movie and while watching this incredible woman perform for 3.5 hours straight, through nine eras of her music, interacting with her over-the-moon-excited, completely engaged audience, I finally understood what the big deal is,” Lancaster said.

On one of those walks, the idea for the class hit Lancaster like an immediate, enchanted revelation, much like words and music come to Swift. She knew she had to teach a communication strategy class at UM built around Swift’s brand.

Swift in academia from UF to Harvard

Other places of higher education have designed courses around the pop star.

Planning your weekend?

Subscribe to our free Top 5 things to do newsletter

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Last fall, the University of Miami’s School of Law had an adjunct professor teach a seven-week intensive class called “Intellectual Property Law Through the Lens of Taylor Swift.”

The University of Florida’s one-credit discussion-based spring 2024 class, “ Musical Storytelling With Taylor Swift and Other Iconic Female Artists,” filled its 15 spots in 10 seconds when early registration opened last fall, the campus newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator reported.

In the last year, Stanford University has offered “All Too Well (Ten Week Version),” a course analyzing Swift’s 10-minute masterpiece, “All Too Well” and “The Last Great American Songwriter: Storytelling With Taylor Swift Through the Eras.”

Harvard’s Department of English opened its “ Taylor Swift and Her World ” course this spring, promising to cover “illicit affairs and hoaxes” and “champagne problems and incomplete closure.”

Berklee College of Music in Boston offers a “Songs of Taylor Swift” class with a focus on the performer’s music composition and lyrics, The Boston Globe reported.

In addition to Lancaster’s coming UM class, Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, Houston’s Rice University, the University of Delaware and the University of California, Berkeley all plan Swift-inspired courses in 2024, according to Best Colleges.

“I typically teach courses in advertising strategy development and social media strategies,” Lancaster said. “These classes focus on brand-building, identifying and communicating with the desired target audience, building brand loyalty, and using social media to build a long-lasting relationship between the brand and its loyal audience. And it occurred to me that Taylor Swift has successfully built a billion-dollar brand with a multicultural, multi-generational, global audience of millions of loyal fans.

“So why not use Taylor Swift’s success and business prowess as the foundation for teaching students about brand-building, audience-building, and the importance of communication in achieving those relationships? And just like that, the class was born,” Lancaster said.

What students will learn

Students who managed to secure a seat for UM’s STC 290 in the fall will learn about the marketing and communication strategies Swift has used to build her billion-dollar brand via “the most diverse and loyal group of fans many of us have ever seen,” Lancaster said.

Take Emma Craig, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering at UM. “It’s going to be a ‘Cruel Summer’ waiting until fall for the new Taylor Swift class coming to UM,” the student told The Miami Hurricane campus paper in anticipation of registration for the course.

“For “Mastermind,” the class title borrowed from one of Swift’s “Midnights” tracks, Lancaster’s lectures aim to teach students how to use promotional, persuasive and strategic communication to build a connection with a target audience, and how to get that audience invested in the brand, Lancaster said as she builds her syllabus. School of Communication issues like freedom of expression, the right to privacy for public figures, and the legal limits of using artificial intelligence to alter images are also on the course agenda.

“These are skills students can use not only in the industry, but also in building their own personal brands after graduation,” Lancaster said.

Swift’s own education path

For Swift, 34, that brand-building began inside a classroom in Hendersonville, Tennessee, when she was a high school freshman in a math class, she told the Miami Herald in an interview published in January 2008, just a month after she turned 18.

While her peers listened to the teacher lecture about algebra a few years earlier, Swift said she scribbled the lyrics to her first two hits, “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops on My Guitar,” in her notebook and sneaked out of class to record voice memos into her telephone.

At 17, signed to her first label, Swift already directed nearly every aspect of her career, from the images on her album covers and press photos, to the songs’ sequencing on her albums. Swift said nothing was released to the marketplace that she hadn’t approved.

“When teachers conducted random notebook checks, they’d be freaked out — but they learned to deal with me,” Swift mused in that long-ago interview.

Knowledge retention

Taylor Swift, Lancaster says, is “in essence, a phenomenon who truly understands many of the important constructs we cover in higher education, including persuasive communication, branding, storytelling, intellectual property, and the power of music.”

One reason universities like UM and UF have taken to teaching Swift, aside from the Eras-like sellout registrations for classes, is they give professors an opportunity to teach concepts that students may actually remember after graduation.

“If students can connect the information they learn to something that’s of great interest to them, they will not only remember that information, but they will be reminded of it whenever the topic of interest comes up. Using Taylor Swift as the impetus for teaching important concepts increases attention, learning, and retention. And plus, it makes learning fun,” Lancaster said.

“I’ve never been more excited to teach a class than I am to teach this one!”

Miami Herald staff writer Howard Cohen teaches a digital writing class at the University of Miami and uses examples from Taylor Swift’s songwriting in lectures.

MORE FOR YOU

• Advertisement

ONLY AVAILABLE FOR SUBSCRIBERS

The Tampa Bay Times e-Newspaper is a digital replica of the printed paper seven days a week that is available to read on desktop, mobile, and our app for subscribers only. To enjoy the e-Newspaper every day, please subscribe.

FY25 Appropriations information is now available under the How Can I Help tab

Moskowitz statement on adl’s report on antisemitism on college campuses.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) released the following statement on the Anti-Defamation League’s  first Campus Antisemitism Report Card  assessing antisemitic incidents, Jewish life on campus and university policies and administrative actions related to combatting antisemitism and protecting Jewish students.

“The number one obligation of colleges and universities is to keep students safe. Yet, the comments of some presidents and administrators show severe neglect for the safety of Jewish students at a time of rising antisemitism. This ADL report will say the quiet part out loud and help hold universities accountable and protect students,” said Moskowitz.

Last year, Moskowitz publicly called for the firing of the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and University of Pennsylvania for their inability to properly handle and condemn antisemitism on college campuses. Moskowitz led 72 of his colleagues in a bipartisan letter condemning the university presidents, arguing they “enabled” the “dehumanization” of Jewish students. In addition, Moskowitz called on the three universities to put in place an action plan on campus to ensure the protection of Jewish and Israeli students and faculty.

The Report Card reviewed nearly 90 schools and assigned grades from A through F to give campus leadership, parents, students, alumni, and stakeholders a mechanism to evaluate the state of antisemitism on campus and how schools across the country respond. Two schools received an “A,” 17 schools received a “B,” 28 schools received a “C,” 25 schools received a “D,” and 13 schools received an “F” grade.

Recent Posts

Moskowitz tours baltimore port and surrounding area of collapsed francis scott key bridge.

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) joined Maryland officials for a guided visit of the Baltimore port and the surrounding areas of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. During the guided visit, Moskowitz was given an update on the type of Federal support that is needed to help rebuild the bridge, as well as […]

Moskowitz, Connolly, Garamendi Introduce Bill to Rename Federal Prison in Miami after Donald J. Trump

Washington, DC – Today, Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), and John Garamendi (D-CA) introduced legislation to change the name of the federal prison in Miami, Florida to the Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution. The legislation follows the introduction of a Republican-led bill to rename Washington Dulles International Airport after the former president.  “Everyone […]

CNN: The home insurance market is crumbling. These owners are paying the price

New YorkCNN—The home insurance market is crumbling in New Orleans, leaving Alfredo Herrera with few options for coverage — and skyrocketing insurance premiums. Herrera, 35, works in finance for a local bank. He bought his 900-square-foot home in New Orleans’ Mid-City neighborhood in 2020 for $270,000, and lives there with his partner. In 2022, he […]

USF shares new on-campus stadium renderings and an update on the groundbreaking ceremony

TAMPA, Fla. (WWSB) - University of South Florida fans can start the countdown to seeing shovels in the ground to begin the construction of a transformational new on-campus stadium. 

USF announced Thursday that a groundbreaking ceremony for the stadium will be held during the university’s annual Homecoming Week celebration, scheduled for Oct. 14 to 19, 2024.

USF’s on-campus stadium is scheduled to open in time for fall 2027.

Copyright 2024 WWSB. All rights reserved.

Missing Florida woman found dead in torched car after ‘possible carjacking’

Thursday hit-and-runs leads to Sarasota police chase

Former North Port football player presumed dead after jumping off cruise ship

A man is taken to the hospital after a crash in Lee County

Grandmother of 12 now the world record holder for longest plank

Latest news.

This week is National Public Safety Communications week

The DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office is getting ready to hold the flame of hope this week

A perfect beach Sunday. And Monday. And Tuesday.....

Beach & Boating Forecast Sunday