Jan 29, 2014 06:00 PM EST By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Rutger's University in New Jersey has created a course on pop singer Beyoncé at the school's Department of Women's and Gender Studies, Music Times reported.

Kevin Allred, a doctoral student and lecturer at the institution where he teaches "Feminist Perspectives: Politicizing Beyoncé," said he believes the 17-time Grammy Award winner should be considered a social change agent, despite not being "political" in the traditional sense of the word.

"This isn't a course about Beyoncé's political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama's inauguration weekend," Allred told Rutgers Today.

Beyoncé's lyrics, videos and interviews will instead be used as lenses to explore race, gender, and sexual politics in the United States.

"It's important to shift students away from simply being consumers of media toward thinking more critically about what they're engaging on a regular basis," he said. "When students don't respond to theory or dense readings, it's often easier to see things play out in the world around them."

Allred told Rutgers Today that "Feminist Perspectives: Politicizing Beyoncé" emerged during his four semesters teaching Women's Studies 101 at Rutgers.  During those courses he would often discuss the thin line Beyoncé walks as a "sex kitten-cum-girl power role model."

"She certainly pushes boundaries," Allred said. "While other artists are simply releasing music, she's creating a grand narrative around her life, her career, and her persona."

The course will also include writing from artists and pioneers in the black feminist movement, such as Alice Walker and Bell Hooks.

Allred, a white male from Utah, said many questions may arise about him starting the course.

"Of course, there are people who'll say, 'You're not black. You're not a woman...It's something I'm always questioning and staying aware of so as not to overstep any bounds or make any claims for a group that I don't belong to," he said.

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