There's A College Class About Beyonce's Lemonade'

OK ladies, now let's get information. No, I didn't misquote the lyrics to an inspiring Beyoncé song from her groundbreaking and earth-shattering visual album, Lemonade. Believe me, those lyrics are burned into my brain as they should be for every man, woman, and child. Instead I decided to go to pun town, because according to The Atlanta-Journal-Constitution, there is now a college class about Beyonce's Lemonade available for students to take. The world truly is a wonderful place sometimes.

This fall, students at the University of Texas at San Antonio can take “Black Women, Beyoncé and Popular Culture," a class taught by Professor Kinitra Brooks. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the class will meet three times a week to "explore the theoretical, historical, and literary frameworks of black feminism with themes like "Formation” and “All Night.” But even though the class's subject is about the lauded work of a popular artist in the entertainment industry, it's a serious course, with the amount of work you'd expect from any college-level class — albeit probably way more fun and music-filled than your typical curriculum.

For those of you not lucky enough to be enrolled in the University of Texas at San Antonio, there is a free Lemonade Syllabus available online, which is unrelated to the university class. This syllabus, from writer and educator Candice Benbow, is perfect if you want to add some learning to your listening. Benbow and other contributors provide options of texts to read that touch on the same topics as Lemonade, like black fiction studies, religion and womanist theology, and historical and cultural studies, to name a few.

Lemonade proved to be a powerful and nuanced story, and the historical, literary, and visual references and homages will likely make for a compelling study. And with one Beyonce-themed college course out there, it's only a matter of time before other universities get in on the fun. Give the people what they want, which is more Queen Bey all the time.

Images: Giphy