Previewing the first-ever Taylor Swift academic conference in Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana – The first-ever academic conference devoted only to Taylor Swift is being held at Indiana University.

“Are you ready for it?” is the question posed by conference organizers, who anticipate 650 attendees per day at the Buskirk Chumley Theater for keynote addresses and smaller panels beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

“We are just really excited to be talking about Taylor Swift from an academic lens,” said Natalia Almanza, a program coordinator for IU Arts and Humanities Council. “We received over 75 applications just to be featured in this conference, and we’re really excited to be hosting about 30 global and local scholars.”

Many have questioned what exactly there is to discuss about Swift for two days. Her public presence, activism, storytelling, lyricism, fan base, and marketing are among the subjects covered.

“Obviously, we’re going to be talking about her music and what it takes to create an album as she does, what it takes to write songs like she does,” said Almanza.

The extent to which her concerts affected the US economy was one of the major stories that emerged from her Eras tour. When Swift plays three nights at Lucas Oil Stadium as part of the Eras Tour in November 2024, Indianapolis will have the opportunity to benefit from this tour.

“But we’re also going to be talking about her as an economic force,” Almanza said. “There’s a whole keynote about Taylor Swift, money, and what her tours do for local economies.”

According to Almanza, these interdisciplinary specialists are eager to explore all of the star’s facets.

“In the arts and humanities council, we’re always looking for ways to root our work in its humanist roots, and find ways to connect to people in different ways,” Almanza said. “Taylor Swift just tends to be someone with so many broad-ranging topics that you can just talk about and that you can kinda apply these different lenses to.”

According to Almanza, Swift is more than the stereotypes that surround her, and this conference will explore every facet of her career.

Speakers from all across the nation and the world will be present over the two days of the conference. There will be more activities both before and after the conference.