'Harvard Has Taylor, Vermont State Has Weird Al!'

If you've ever longed for a glimpse inside the imagination of Alfred Yankovic and you're a student at Vermont State University, your two worlds are about to collide. The higher-ed institution will be offering a course this fall dedicated to the quirky singer-songwriter known as "Weird Al," taught by an audio engineer who's worked on two of Yankovic's most recent albums, reports UPI. "Harvard has Taylor, Vermont State has Weird Al!" the university noted in a Wednesday Facebook post, acknowledging it was inspired by the Ivy League school's course offering on the Karma superstar.

The name of the VTSU course even "humorously echoes" the Swift class, the school notes: "Weird Al and His Polkas," compared with "Taylor and Her World." "'Weird Al' Yankovic has been an enduring pop culture icon for over 40 years," says the school's post. "Studying his work offers students a fun and engaging framework to study things like parody, songcraft, and music production analysis." Teaching the music industry and business course is Brian Warwick, who said the class won't just hyperfocus on Yankovic's most famous parodies, like "Eat It" (a send-up of Michael Jackson's "Beat It,").

"Al Yankovic's work is not just about the parodies," Warwick tells WCAX. "It's also about his tribute or pastiche songs, where it's actually an original work by Al Yankovic, but he's paying tribute to another artist." Students at the university seem pumped for the course, with one senior noting, "This guy's just really smart. Just like really smart critiques. Like he really makes a parody worth listening to." Even better news for Yankovic fans who are local but not matriculating at VTSU: The course will be open to both students and nonstudents. (More strange stuff stories.)