Tina Knowles wasn’t just a notable guest at Vanderbilt University’s Beyoncé course this week; she’s woven into the curriculum, which fosters critical conversations on Black identity, culture and femininity.
Vanderbilt students sat in formation in the University’s Buttrick Hall on Jan. 14 as the businesswoman, designer and mother of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles joined them via Zoom for their “Beyoncé: Epic Artist, Feminist Icon” course.
Created and taught by Professors Michael Eric Dyson and Gilman W. Whiting, the course explores Beyoncé’s rise and cultural impact, situating her among iconic women performers and examining her influence, status and politics through her four latest albums.
Whiting and Dyson opened Wednesday’s class with a warm welcome for Knowles and immediately dove into questions that connected her upbringing with themes students had been discussing in class, including the history of enslavement, segregation and the Great Migration, and the significance of places like Louisiana and Galveston, Texas — where Knowles was born — in American history.
“My parents were run out of Louisiana to Texas because of racism,” she said. “In my childhood, racism was everywhere because it was the South and it was a little small town.”
Her experiences further highlighted how segregation and racism shaped life in the South for many.
“It’s interesting because my kids always say, ‘Mama, I cannot believe that you grew up in a time where you had to ride on the back of the bus.’ But segregation was still alive and well in Texas,” she said before mentioning the historical events behind the Juneteenth holiday commemorating the end of slavery. “The town that I’m from, Galveston, is where they were liberated, but it was two years after — nearly three years — everybody else found out.”
In addition to the broader discussion of Black identity, students were treated to an authentic, lighthearted exchange with Knowles, who smiled and greeted each student who asked a question. Many of those questions were inspired by her 2025 memoir “Matriarch,” which is among the texts assigned in the course.
Knowles talked openly about her journey. At one point, she grew emotional as she spoke about the hair salon business she opened and the safe haven it became for women and the Black community.
“I’m getting emotional about it because it was more than just a business,” she said. “It was a way for us to network, to feel pride, to help each other, and I just have fond memories of that salon. … It was a place of healing,” she said.
Dyson said the course isn’t just about analyzing Beyoncé’s music.
“We want to give the historical backdrop against which it unfolds,” he said.
Knowles also touched on the impact of Beyoncé’s eighth studio album “Cowboy Carter” and the significance of its legacy.
“We have a history there, and we have the right to enjoy and celebrate that music. And I think the biggest thing for me is that people got educated,” she said. “I’m really happy that that album came out when it did. The timing was great before all of this erasure. I mean, erasure has been going on forever. But it’s really doubled down right now.”
It’s not Dyson and Whiting’s first rodeo, either. They’ve created courses at Vanderbilt to explore the conversation about Black history, identity and culture on a global scale.
“We do many courses. We do most of our courses together, but we did another course about Black America from Martin Luther King Jr. to Lil Wayne,” Dyson said. “It’s extremely important to connect the dots for young people of the popular figures and culture that they see and admire and to give a deeper background to what it might mean.”
“We have this pedagogical curriculum that runs behind it because a lot of people will look at this idea of talking about pop culture figures and not look at them as serious or serious study,” Whiting said. “And I think that’s most important, to engage them in a way that they can actually see themselves.”
Beyoncé’s longtime publicist Yvette Noel-Schure and father Mathew Knowles are also among the guests slated to join the class later this month.
Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network’s Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
