Days before Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour made its final stop in Vancouver, UFV’s Community Health and Social Innovation (CHASI) Hub hosted Swiftie Scholar, a hybrid academic conference, in Evered Hall. On Dec. 5, this all-day event brought together a wide range of attendees including students, staff, speakers, and of course, Swifties.
Evered Hall was decked out with decorations inspired by Swift’s discography, including twinkling mirrorballs, themed tables, and stations for making friendship bracelets.
After welcoming remarks from CHASI’s lead researcher, Chelsea Klassen, the conference proceeded with Dr. Brian Donovan, a professor of sociology at the University of Kansas. Donovan’s lecture was held via Zoom and focused on the parasocial relationships between Swift and her fans. Following Donovan was Jarin Pintana, a research coordinator at BookNet Canada. Pintana’s presentation focused on book publishing and marketing, specifically how Swifties have become their own market segment within the book industry.
The conference also welcomed Tinca Lukan, PhD researcher and research fellow for the University of Ljubljana. Her lecture, via Zoom, discussed modern-day feminism in relation to the “girlboss” movement. Next was Dr. Erin Morton, Dean of Arts and professor of art history at St. Francis Xavier University. Morton provided a detailed analysis via Zoom of Swift’s eighth album, folklore, and its depiction of white settler womanhood in a Southern colonial context. Lastly, the conference heard from Dr. Hannah Celinski, a business instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, on the undeniable resilience of both Swift and acclaimed basketball athlete Caitlin Clark.
During the event, The Cascade sat down with Pintana to discuss what she attributes to the pop star’s groundbreaking success.
“It’s a trifecta of her relatability, the quality of the content that she puts out, and her marketing strategy.”
Pintana also explained why events like Swiftie Scholar are so significant.
“These events showcase a different side of academia and are a really nice change in terms of how positive and [engaging they are] … rarely do we see at academic conferences [where] everybody’s like, ‘we love this.’”
Regarding why Swift’s impact on a variety of industries is worth discussing, library technician and political science student Kara Dunbar offered her thoughts.
“I feel like it would be almost a disservice to not talk about it … She’s such a centre of society and pop culture and how we relate to each other right now, that articulating and understanding that is important to understanding our culture and our world.”
Arts student Austin Pedersen learned a lot at the event, but there was one thing that really resonated with him.
“Seeing how she’s impacted more than just the music industry … It shows how much she’s redefining what it is to produce art.”
After the conference wrapped up, The Cascade reflected on the event with co-organizers Chelsea Klassen and Madison McKenzie, a BA student at UFV. On the subject of why events like Swiftie Scholar should be prioritized by UFV, Klassen gave her thoughts.
“Having events like this that are related to students’ interests is important for the university to prioritize because we want our campus to be a space where students can engage in a variety of activities.”
As for the backlash the conference faced online, Klassen believes it stems from sexism.
“We even had one [comment] that [was] like, ‘this is a joke,’ which I found very interesting … It does feel a bit sexist in some regard because you probably wouldn’t say the same thing if someone were to have a conference on The Beatles or Queen.”
As for the conference’s $13 admission fee, Klassen wishes it hadn’t been necessary.
“We were trying to get a little bit of base funding to offset some of our costs … I’m hoping in the future we can get the university to put some money in and maybe some sponsors.”
Klassen also expressed interest in coordinating more events. Should students or other members of the UFV community have interest in more scholarly discussion, she encourages them to visit CHASI.
“You can always come to us … trying to organize events on campus is an important part of a student’s experience.”
McKenzie believes organizing events can also help people connect with each other.
“[If] they have a topic that they would really like to dive into … that might be an opportunity for them to find a community at the university.”
Have a subject you’d like to explore more academically? Send a message to chasi@ufv.ca to see if there’s a way to organize a similar event with others who share your interests.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
