*2026 Spring *NEW* Here, There, and Everywhere: The Life and Legacy of the Beatles

Class Number:

760-01

INSTRUCTOR: 

Samuel Granoff

TIME:

Mondays, 6:30-9 PM

LOCATION:

Online

Description: 

This GLS Seminar will explore the rise, success, fallout, and legacy of The Beatles. While utilizing a variety of mediums that engage and interpret their work (from biopics to musicals, documentaries to fictionalizations), this course does not presume that students will arrive with any background or identified interest in the Fab Four. Our intention, above all, is to develop as listeners, learners, and thinkers—and, in the process, examine a band which has come to define the music, culture, and identity of former and future generations on an unprecedented, global scale. Together, we will analyze music on three levels: (1) the historical, (2) the cultural, (3) the artistic. This will be accomplished through an examination of The Beatles’ expansive oeuvre, from their humble beginnings in Liverpool, as the Quarrymen, to the last of their twelve studio albums (including the tumultuous breakup, solo careers, and beyond).

The main goal of this course is for you to emerge as more confident readers and writers, identifiers and critics; establishing skills that will serve you no matter what track of life you pursue. The Beatles are a universal phenomenon, and to learn about them is to learn about the world. Better understanding their musical journey expands into that of art, and life, as a whole.

What made The Beatles great? How has their music impacted the world? Will there ever be a proper equivalent? Let’s find out.

Samuel Granoff is currently a Herbert Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, holding a PhD in English literature from Florida State University, as well as degrees from Columbia University, Duke University (GLS '19), and the University of San Francisco (the latter two at which he played baseball). Last year, he served as a Fulbright Fellow through the Université Paris-Saclay, researching for a novel set during the First World War. He has previously taught abroad with Semester at Sea, covering ten countries in one hundred days. His work has recently appeared in Aethlon, SFGate, and the Revue d'histoire culturelle

Spring 2026, Arts, History, Music