Many thought USC went crazy when Professor Mathieu Deflem’s Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame course was introduced for Spring 2011.
But this time, crazy may not have been a bad thing. This helping of crazy may have been exactly what our school needed.
The Gaga class, contrary to the initial impressions of many people, has proven to be highly academic and successful. Addressing topics from politics to religion to sexuality, the class has achieved what USC hasn’t seen too much of before: a creative incorporation of the modern, popular culture of America into our antiquated studies.
And the students like it.
Not only have students found the class interesting and academically stimulating, some of Lady Gaga’s fame has also begun to seep into USC and the Department of Sociology.
Because of the class, the university has received vast national and international attention from The New York Times, BBC News and thousands of other media outlets. The University of Virginia has even started a Gaga class of its own. We give props to Deflem and USC for taking these original steps forward.
Perhaps other departments of USC should take a leaf from Deflem’s book and find a way to weave new, innovative ideas into their courses to make the material more relatable to the students. In Deflem’s case, the course quickly filled. Students with little prior interest in sociology now care more.
Academia doesn’t have to be dry, and it shouldn’t be ... even if we don’t necessarily go Gaga over all our classes.