Bad Bunny performs onstage during his World's Hottest Tour at SoFi Stadium on September 30, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - Emory University is diving into the world of reggaetón and cultural identity with a new course inspired by 31-year-old international superstar Bad Bunny.
What we know:
The class, offered through the university’s Latinx Studies Initiative, will examine the Puerto Rican artist’s latest album alongside his broader cultural and artistic contributions.
The course isn’t just about music — it will use Bad Bunny’s work to explore deeper themes such as colonialism, race, gender, and the political and socio-economic forces shaping Puerto Rico, according to the course description on Emory's website.
Weekly assignments will include academic readings, podcast episodes, and in-depth song analysis. The class will also highlight work from other Puerto Rican artists to paint a fuller picture of the island’s vibrant creative scene.
Big picture view:
The Bad Bunny course is one of several offerings in Emory’s Latinx Studies Initiative, an interdisciplinary program aimed at expanding understanding of Latinx communities in the U.S. Other courses include Mapping Latine Inequalities, Historical Analysis of the Migrant South, Latino Politics in the U.S., Latina Feminisms, Latinx Environmentalism, and Spanish Linguistics.
This isn’t Emory’s first time merging pop culture with academia. Last year, the university made headlines with a sociology course centered around Taylor Swift’s music and its cultural impact.