Fans of heavy metal will now have a chance to study their favourite genre at degree level thanks to a Dutch university.
Summa College in Eindhoven has a new faculty called ‘The Metal Factory’ where it teaches students how to “master the art of growling” in its singing classes, as well as playing guitar, bass, drum and keyboard for metal audiences (via Australia’s 7 News).
The news outlet reports that “according to instructors, the key to an effective heavy metal growl is simple: “You start with a sigh or a groan and you use your vocal cords to gradually transform it into a primal scream.”
According to a post on The Metal Factory’s official website, the curriculum “train[s] you to become an independent artist/entrepreneur in the music industry”.
It goes on to say that career opportunities after completing your degree include composing, producing and “teaching and coaching”.
It adds: “We also have alumni who eventually graduated in copyright, management, music therapy or speech therapy. Metal Factory offers everyone who wants to be professionally involved in music a broad foundation for the future.”
They also describe how many of their tutors have “toured the world”. It continues: “Our teachers are all active in the music industry, on stage and behind the scenes,” says The Metal Factory. “We try to keep our education up-to-date and relevant to the current industry. We feel it’s important to have our teaching staff reflect this philosophy. Many of our teachers have toured the world and [are] thus capable of sharing realistic experiences and knowledge with our students.”
Check out a video report about the course here:
@7newsaustralia Students in the Netherlands can now earn a degree in heavy metal music to master the art of growling. Would you sign up? #heavymetal #screamo #heavymetalmusic #music #university #study #news #7NEWS
Any potential students interested in studying on the course can attend an open day at Dynamo Eindhoven on January 26. Find out more here.
Back in 2023, it became possible to study Taylor Swift at university as the musician became the topic of a new course in Arizona.
The course, entitled the Psychology of Taylor Swift – Advanced Topics of Social Psychology, explores what psychologists can learn from her career.
PhD student Alexandra Wormley, who is teaching the course told Arizona State University‘s news site at the time: “The course is basically using Taylor Swift as a semester-long example of different phenomena – gossip, relationships, revenge,” emphasising that “the class is not a seminar on how much we like or dislike her – we want to be able to learn about psychology.”
She added that they will connect themes from Swift’s various albums to psychology, giving 2017’s ‘Reputation’ as an example.
“Taylor’s sixth album, ‘Reputation’, is her comeback after disappearing from the spotlight due to conflicts with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. She enacts her revenge on them – and the broader media landscape – by dropping an incredibly successful album along with a stadium tour,” she said.
“The students know this – but do they know why we like revenge? Do they know how we enact revenge? Social psychology can tell us.”
Prior to that, a university class dissecting Swift’s ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version)’ was announced at Stanford University and another at Berkeley explored the business success of the pop star.
Last November, a course dedicated to Beyoncé was unveiled at Yale University. Titled Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics through Music, it examines Beyoncé’s work from her 2013 self-titled album to 2024’s ‘Cowboy Carter‘, as a lens to study Black history, intellectual thought and performance.
Students will get the opportunity to participate in screenings of the ‘Drunk In Love’ singer’s visual albums, discussions on works about her from various scholars, crafting playlists linking her discography to her musical predecessors and more.
Speaking to the Yale Daily News, Daphne Brooks, professor of African American Studies and Music, highlighted the recent US election as a prime opportunity to recognise and study Beyoncé’s contributions to American culture.
“The number of breakthroughs and innovations she’s executed and the way she’s interwoven history and politics and really granular engagements with Black cultural life into her performance aesthetics and her utilisation of her voice as a portal to think about history and politics – there’s just no one like her,” she said.
Other artists given the university treatment include Kanye West, who was the subject of a course at Montreal’s Concordia University in 2022. Titled Kanye vs. Ye: Genius By Design, the course looked into the rapper’s career – from his beginnings as a producer in Chicago to his rise to fame via albums like ‘College Dropout’ and ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.’
In 2023, Stanford University also offered an online course on the music and culture of The Grateful Dead.
The post You can now study a university degree in heavy metal appeared first on NME.