The first thing you need to know is that this is no easy elective. If you want to learn about the country music superstar Dolly Parton, you’d better come prepared.

A course called Dolly’s America at the University of Tennessee’s main campus in Knoxville is devoted to the life story of Ms. Parton, who hails from nearby Sevier County in the eastern part of the state.

But this is much more than a surface-level study of a popular musician, said Lynn Sacco, the associate professor who teaches the course. It’s a thesis seminar meant for history students in the honors program, and it’s meant to give students a new way of understanding Appalachia’s modern history and Ms. Parton’s role in it.

“It’s really kind of a nerdy class,” Dr. Sacco said.

The second thing you need to know is that for many natives of eastern Tennessee, Ms. Parton, 71, is known for much, much more than just music. She is an icon for a place that outsiders can sometimes underestimate, said Carson Hollingsworth, the student body president at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.