Taylor Swift symposium coming to IU; are you ready for it?

BLOOMINGTON, Ind (WISH) — Swifties, better make more friendship bracelets – Indiana University’s Arts and Humanities Council is hosting a public forum on Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift.

The conference, which will run from Nov. 3-5, is called “Taylor Swift: The Concert Era”, the name a play on her recent “Eras” tour.

Natalia Almanza, the internal program coordinator for the council, says the forum will look at Swift as a businesswoman, addressing the technical engineering and lyricism of her work with a feminist lens.

Scholars from the Jacobs School of Music and the Kelley School of Business will lend their expertise to topics about Swift. There are also a number of people outside the academic world who are eager to present at this conference.

“(Presenters are) folks who host podcasts, folks who work in and around the music industry – they were asked to submit a biography and an abstract for a paper and presentation,” Almanza said.

A schedule of presenters hasn’t been released yet, but the Taylor Swift theme will encompass the entire community.

“We got some local coffee shops that are going to be serving Taylor Swift-themed drinks, we got some local hotels that are going to be hosting this, and different venues hosting karaoke nights and dance nights,” she added.

Several hundred people have already signed up for the symposium, meaning it may have to be moved to a larger venue on campus.

The event is open to the public. Those interested can RSVP on the Arts and Humanities Council’s website. There are still plenty of blank spaces, just write your name.