Interested in the lyrics? Hear from poet, essayist, critic, and professor of English at Harvard University, Stephanie Burt about practicing cultural history, anthropology and more, using Taylor Swift as a starting point for multidisciplinary inquiry. Burt will present “Hits Different: Why Taylor Swift Writes Such Strong Songs,” on Monday, September 30. We hope to see you there! For questions and accommodations, contact Caty Movich by emailing ipsr@ku.edu. 

Register to attend virtually. 

Stephanie Burt is a poet, literary critic, and professor with nine published books, including two critical books on poetry and three poetry collections. Her essay collection Close Calls with Nonsense was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her other works include We Are Mermaids; Advice from the Lights; The Poem is You: 60 Contemporary American Poems and How to Read Them; The Art of the Sonnet; Something Understood: Essays and Poetry for Helen Vendler; The Forms of Youth: Adolescence and 20th Century Poetry; Parallel Play: Poems; Randall Jarrell on W. H. Auden; and Randall Jarrell and His Age. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, The Believer, and the Boston Review.