Lady Gaga isn't famous in the same way that most celebrities are famous. Rather, she's so incredibly famous that it's a full-blown sociological phenomenon. Luckily, the University of South Carolina is now offering a course that will help students grasp just how famous Gaga really is.
Student website Dailygamecock.com [via CBC] reports that the course will be called "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame." Professor Mathieu Deflem said, "We're going to look at Lady Gaga as a social event. So, it's not the person and it's not the music. The central question of the course is, this fame, which is ironically also the theme of her first records, how can it be accounted for? What are some of the mechanisms and some of the conditions of Lady Gaga's rise to popularity?"
Although Deflem insists that the course is "distinctly sociological," it also appears to be a chance for Lady Gaga superfans to geek out about their favourite pop star. The professor has apparently seen Gaga live 29 times since 2009 and owns hundreds of copies of her albums. He started the fansite Gagafrontrow.net and has met the woman herself five times. He said, "I hope that [prospective students] are at least somewhat fans of Gaga."
Deflem has already started a website for the course, Gagacourse.net. The class will be open to 50 students in the spring semester and as many as 120 next fall. It requires previous sociology credits to sign up.
Click on the clip below to see Deflem explain the course.
Student website Dailygamecock.com [via CBC] reports that the course will be called "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame." Professor Mathieu Deflem said, "We're going to look at Lady Gaga as a social event. So, it's not the person and it's not the music. The central question of the course is, this fame, which is ironically also the theme of her first records, how can it be accounted for? What are some of the mechanisms and some of the conditions of Lady Gaga's rise to popularity?"
Although Deflem insists that the course is "distinctly sociological," it also appears to be a chance for Lady Gaga superfans to geek out about their favourite pop star. The professor has apparently seen Gaga live 29 times since 2009 and owns hundreds of copies of her albums. He started the fansite Gagafrontrow.net and has met the woman herself five times. He said, "I hope that [prospective students] are at least somewhat fans of Gaga."
Deflem has already started a website for the course, Gagacourse.net. The class will be open to 50 students in the spring semester and as many as 120 next fall. It requires previous sociology credits to sign up.
Click on the clip below to see Deflem explain the course.
