The College Fix

Pop icon Miley Cyrus is the focus of a summer school course that recently debuted at Skidmore College.

The course, titled “The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media,” launched last week and is taught by visiting assistant professor Dr. Carolyn Chernoff, who aims to examine Cyrus’ transition from Disney star to sex diva, and what that says about society.

Chernoff did not respond to repeated requests by The College Fix for comment on the intrinsic academic value of the course.  She told the University Herald that Cyrus is “a useful primary document” for discussions of sex and power in media.

“She’s a really interesting case study for how someone can represent sex and gender while maturing in the public eye,” Dr. Chernoff said. “Miley is a work in progress, but you can already see such a complex narrative of how people talk about her unbridled sexuality.”

In an email to The College Fix, Daniel Forbush, executive director for communications at Skidmore, declined to comment on the academic value of the course, and instead referred to Chernoff’s public comments on the matter, citing numerous articles which delved into the nature of the course.

Chernoff told The Guardian she created the course “as a creative and rigorous way of looking at what’s relevant about sociology and sociology theory.” She told The Saratogian the class will delve into race, that “Miley is white but wants to appropriate a black sound. … She doesn’t discuss her white privilege.”

The course is also set to cover topics including Cyrus’ rise to fame, gender stratification, what happens to Disney stars as they age, as well as LGBT issues. It’s also been described as a “feminist critique of media, using Miley as a lens.”

This is the first time the class has been offered at the upstate New York private institution, at which tuition amounts to about $60,000 per year. Chernoff has said the class will not be an easy A, and will include essays and research projects.

Chernoff’s professional bio on Skidmore’s website says she investigates “the role of culture in reproducing and transforming social inequality.” She holds a joint PhD in sociology and education from the University of Pennsylvania.

As for her personal preferences, when asked if she liked Cyrus’ music outside of work, she responded to Skidmore News: “Officially, I enjoy nothing. I hate music. I hate everything.”

“One of the jokes I make in my class that many of my colleagues here and elsewhere also make is that sociology ruins everything you think is fun because it forces you to reveal the deep inequalities that are being reproduced through seemingly trivial channels.”

As for Cyrus, she gained renewed fame last year when she famously “twerked” at the 2013 Video Music Awards (VMAs), confirming her transition from a kid celebrity to adult star and sex icon.

She is known for her personality as much as her music, as she dresses provocatively, frequently sticks out her tongue for photos, and celebrates her party-hard lifestyle. In the past, she has come under fire for song lyrics in which she glorified the club drug “Molly.”

College Fix reporter Andrew Desiderio is a student at The George Washington University.

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