英國大學開設披頭士碩士學位課程

A university has launched what it says is the first Master of Arts (MA) degree course on the Beatles, to study their impact on popular music and society.

Students taking the postgraduate course at Liverpool Hope University -- in the Fab Four's home city -- will take four 12-week modules and be required to write a dissertation.

"There have been over 8,000 books about The Beatles but there has never been serious academic study and that is what we are going to address," said course leader Mike Brocken, a senior lecturer in popular music.

"The Beatles influenced so much of society, not just with their music, but also with fashion from their collar-less jackets to their psychedelic clothes," he added.

Their output covered a huge range of music and film, from the black and white film "A Hard Day's Night" to "Strawberry Fields Forever," which Brocken noted was "accompanied by arguably the first pop video."

He added: "Forty years on, now is the right time and Liverpool is the right place to study The Beatles. It is definitely the first Beatles related MA in this country and I would say probably the first in the world."

The course entitled Beatles, Popular Music and Society -- which can also be taken part-time -- starts in September, and Brocken said he has already had expressions of interest from the United States as well as in Britain..

Fees for an MA course at the university are around 3,500 pounds and students will have to fund themselves unless they win backing from another institution, although there may be "some" bursaries.

The course has a maximum of 30 places. Asked why people would study the Beatles at a time of global economic crisis, Brocken said: "I think any MA equips people with extra study and research skills.

"MAs of any description are vital for the work place. You will find that once you have done a masters degree it separates you from the pack," he said.

英國一所大學最近開設了首個“披頭士文學碩士”學位課程，該學位專門研究披頭士樂隊對流行音樂和社會影響。

在（披頭士成員的家鄉）利物浦的赫普大學攻讀該學位的學生需完成4個爲期12周的模塊課程及一篇學位論文。

課程負責人、流行音樂高級講師麥克•布萊肯說：“有關披頭士樂隊的論著有八千多本，但至今還沒有正規的學術研究，我們想填補這一空白。”

他說：“披頭士樂隊對社會有廣泛影響，不僅是他們的音樂，他們以無領夾克和迷幻服裝爲標誌的時尚也不例外。”

披頭士樂隊的作品包括一系列的音樂和電影，如黑白電影《一夜狂歡》，以及被布萊肯稱爲“配有首個流行視頻的”音樂作品《永遠的草莓園》。

他說：“披頭士樂隊解散已有四十年之久，現在是個合適的時候，而且利物浦也是個合適的地點。我們肯定是英國首個與披頭士樂隊有關文學碩士點，很可能也是世界首個。”

名爲“披頭士、流行音樂和社會”的課程將於今年九月份正式開始，並且可以兼修。布萊肯稱他已經收到了來自美國和英國國內的課程垂詢電話。

赫普大學一門文學碩士課程的學費約爲3500英鎊，儘管可能會有“些許”的獎學金，但如果學員沒有得到某個機構的資助，就得自己負擔。

“披頭士”碩士課程最多招收30人。在被問及爲什麼人們會在全球經濟危機時研究披頭士樂隊時，布萊肯說：“我想任何一門文學碩士課程都能讓人們多一門知識和研究技能。”

他說：“任何一類文學碩士對工作都很重要。你會發現當你取得碩士學位後，你的世界就與衆不同了。”