Southern Connecticut State University Communication, Media, and Screen Studies professor Sara Baker Bailey is retooling her popular Taylor Swift-focused interpersonal communication course following the release of Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl.
Bailey, who stayed up at midnight to listen to the album in preparation for her October 22 course launch, says the latest release marks a significant shift in tone — one rooted in happiness, love, and relational support, contrasting earlier themes of anxiety and heartbreak.
The course uses Swift’s music as a framework to explore communication and relationship dynamics, offering students a shared cultural touchpoint to apply theory beyond personal experience. Each student selects an album to analyze throughout the half-term course, and Bailey anticipates The Life of a Showgirl will be this term’s top pick.
A self-described Swift scholar and fan, Bailey integrates the artist’s evolving public narrative — from reclaiming her masters to navigating love and fame — as case studies in media messaging and interpersonal connection. Beyond this course, Bailey teaches crisis communication, public relations, and public speaking, often rooting academic concepts in pop culture.
For Bailey, Swift’s work also serves as a model for community-building. “If you walk out of this classroom having made one friend here,” she says, “the course has succeeded.”
Read more in the Hartford Courant: Teaching Taylor Swift: Why a CT professor is adding ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ to her curriculum
