Featured Post from Texas Christian University

On the T-Swift beat? Our expert can fill any of the blank spaces you might have in your coverage

Jul 9, 2024

2 min

Naomi Ekas


She's everywhere - and this month Taylor Swift restarts her world tour meaning coverage of this American mega-star will be global.


Recently TCU's Naomi Ekas was featured in USA Today and Time Magazine where her expert opinion and insight into Taylor Swift's impact on American psychology is helping to explain her place atop planetary pop-culture.



Professor Naomi Ekas teaches a course about the connection between psychology and Swift's place in pop culture at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. She believes there are universal themes listeners have experienced in Swift's lyrics but notes that the pop star's particular worldview may not translate to everyone.

At the beginning of the spring semester, Ekas asked her students what labels they attached to Swift. Many of the responses reflected that were "these are white girl experiences, and this is white girl music and there isn't kind of that representation or that connection kind of outside of that particular racial group," she tells USA TODAY.

"Everyone's dated the bad boy and they’ve had the friendship breakups and they’ve, you know, crashed and burned in relationships, revenge – these are pretty common themes across humankind, but then her particular life and how she's living them out might not connect to everybody," Ekas says.  April 24 - USA Today




Last year, when millions of people were trying to snag Eras Tour tickets, students at Texas Christian University were working just as hard to get into "Psychology (Taylor’s Version)," a new class offered by developmental psychologist Naomi Ekas. “We take different topics and themes from her music or her life and apply a developmental perspective to it,” she says. Classes have centered, for example, on infidelity, revenge, attraction, and breakups.

During one recent class, Ekas played Marjorie, the devastating Evermore tune that pays tribute to Swift’s grandmother. (I should've asked you questions, I should've asked you how to be, she sings.) Many of the 120 students started crying and asked if they could have a few minutes to text their grandmother or their mom or their dad. “We were all like, ‘Do we continue with class today? Because we’re very sad,’” Ekas recalls. April 19 - Time Magazine



There will be no shortage of Taylor Swift coverage in the coming months - and if you're a journalist looking to fill a blank space in your story and avoid a cruel summer with no expert sources - then let us help.


Naomi Ekas's research program utilizes a developmental psychology approach to understanding children’s social and emotional development. She also  teaches a course about the connection between psychology and Swift's place in pop culture.


Naomi is available to speak with media - simply click on her icon now to arrange a time today.

Connect with:
Naomi Ekas

Naomi Ekas

Department Chair & Professor of Psychology

Naomi Ekas is an expert in autistic and non-autistic children's emotional development.

Marital ConflictEmerging AdulthoodParentingEmotion RegulationCaregiver Care for Families with Autism

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