I guess it’s never too late to go back to school.
Of course, I’d have to make some changes. I’d have to, at least temporarily, suspend my day-to-day routine here in Indiana while I went abroad to attend classes. And I’d have to find a place — a flat — hopefully somewhere near the University of Liverpool. It would cost a lot of money and would involve mountains of MEGO paperwork and mind-numbing bureaucratic rabbit holes.
All true.
But the chance to earn a master’s degree in The Beatles was appealing to this life-long Fab Four fan.
I learned of this opportunity the other morning while reading through The New York Times morning briefing. Toward the end of the updates concerning that day’s dire crises (Or “Towards the end” if you’re going with the preferred British usage.), was a short excerpt from a Times story about a year-long course: “The Beatles: Music, Industry and Heritage.”
I located the longer article which stated that the course will “focus on shifting perceptions of the Beatles over the past 50 years, and on how the band’s changing stories affected commercial sectors like the record business and tourism.”
Hmm. So, it wouldn’t be so much a bunch of fans sitting around discussing favorite songs and stories as it would be a more academic pursuit.
“Nobody wants or needs a degree where people are sitting around listening to Rubber Soul” debating lyrics,” said Holly Tessler, the American who created the course. “That’s what you do in the pub.”
Well, exploring the meaning of the Beatles while sitting in a pub doesn’t sound like a bad way to learn. Back in college, I believe I learned a lot from just that sort of give and take in similar academic settings. Still, it would probably be hard to assign grades and take tests while people around you were lifting pints, throwing darts and watching football matches on the telly.
Tessler urges students to think about the Beatles as a “cultural brand.” Her point about the commercial impact of the Beatles seems obvious, especially in Liverpool.
According to one study, The Beatles brand is worth $110 million a year to the city. This is not to mention the universal cultural impact the group has had and how it is still evolving over the nearly 60 years they have been in the public eye.
In one lecture, she used the terms “narrative theory” and “transmediality” in explaining how students should think of the Lads from Liverpool. I’m guessing that’s not the sort of vocabulary one would normally hear in a British pub, so maybe she has a point about keeping it less about fandom and more about the sociology and economics of the Beatles phenomenon.
Of course, the idea of a master’s degree in The Beatles has its distractors, even in Liverpool. Most of the negative comments were about the academic value of such a course. One person wondered how such a course would be applicable in the real world. “You’re not going to cure cancer, are you?” Others thought it was silly and a waste of time. I don’t know about that. In some sense, is there any learning that is truly a waste of time?
But, after thinking it through, I realize the costs of moving across the pond to go to school in Liverpool for a year outweighed the benefits. Besides, I’m pretty sure Becky wouldn’t want to move, so that’s that.
I guess I will just have to be content as an ABD (all but degree) Beatles fan. That doesn’t mean I can’t still get together with my mates, hoist a pint and discuss the meaning of the songs on Rubber Soul.
