Beyonce performs on stage during a concert in the Rock in Rio Festival on September 13, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. View Full Caption Buda Mendes/Getty Images

UNIVERSITY VILLAGE — As the University of Illinois at Chicago debuts a new Beyonce and Feminism-themed course this semester, academics are inviting the greater community to weigh in, too.

UIC's gender and women's studies program will present “Who Run the Classroom?: Scholars & Students Discuss Black Feminism & Beyonce,” a community course, from 5:30-8 p.m. March 18 at the UIC Lecture Center A1, 805 S. Morgan St. Admission is free and open to the public.

The class, which borrows from the Beyonce song lyric "Who run the world?," will explore the pop icon’s connection to contemporary issues of class, race, gender and sexuality.

This semester, UIC debuted "Beyoncé: Critical Feminist Perspectives and U.S. Black Womanhood," a new course that uses "the artist’s music and career as a way to explore her attempt to be positioned as a feminist and queer figure, as well as larger issues involving media images and representations of African American women," according to UIC leaders.

Beyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, Calif. View Full Caption Michael Buckner/Getty Images

Instructor Jennifer Richardson, who says the course tackles serious subjects and is not "fluff," said the theme of the course could really be applied to any black woman in media, such as first lady Michelle Obama.

"We would have the same type of tools, the same kind of critical analysis of how she is represented, who she is as a person and what that means in terms of what corporate mainstream media says about black women. It’s not just about Beyoncé," Richardson said.

The Bey-based university course is not the first of its kind. "Politicizing Beyonce: Black Feminism, US Politics, & Queen Bey," is being taught at Rutgers University, and was widely publicized in October.

At the March 18 class, students will join in the discussion and showcase work from their midterm projects that offers critical analysis of the artist’s work.

For more information, email uic.gws@gmail.com or call 312-996-2441.

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