The University of Southern California's prestigious Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism will introduce a groundbreaking four-credit course focused entirely on K-pop superstar G-Dragon starting next spring semester. This marks a historic milestone as the first full-credit academic program at USC dedicated exclusively to studying a Korean pop artist.
Galaxy Corporation, G-Dragon's management agency, announced on Friday that the course will be titled "COMM 400: Crooked Studies of K-pop -- The Case of G-Dragon." The innovative program represents a significant step forward in recognizing K-pop as a legitimate subject of academic inquiry at one of America's most respected communication schools.
The course will be led by Professor Lee Hye-jin, who will guide students through an in-depth exploration of G-Dragon's multifaceted impact on the music industry. Students will examine his artistic innovations, analyze his influence on industrial practices within the K-pop ecosystem, and study his broader cultural significance in the global entertainment landscape.
According to Galaxy Corporation, this academic program aims to spark fresh scholarly discussions about K-pop as a transnational cultural phenomenon that transcends traditional geographical and cultural boundaries. The course will provide students with analytical frameworks to understand how individual artists like G-Dragon have shaped and continue to influence global pop culture.
The announcement places G-Dragon's course alongside similar celebrity-focused academic programs at other elite American universities. Yale University has offered courses examining Beyoncé's cultural impact, while Harvard University has developed curriculum around Taylor Swift's artistic and social influence. This trend reflects the growing academic recognition of pop culture icons as subjects worthy of serious scholarly attention.
The timing of this announcement underscores the increasing mainstream acceptance of K-pop as a significant cultural force in American academia. As Korean popular culture continues to gain global prominence, universities are responding by creating formal academic frameworks to study and understand this phenomenon's artistic, social, and economic implications.
