Heavy metal music can now be studied at this university

Are you a diehard lover of heavy metal? How many times have you sat there in class only to wish you were studying your favorite musical genres instead? Now, the University of Newcastle is making your metal dreams come true. The school is offering two PhD scholarships allowing you to study your favorite genre.

Check it out below!

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Located in Australia, the University offers two fully funded scholarships to the school’s Centre for Urban and Regional Studies.

Here, students will study Geography and Environmental Studies under Professor/Director of Human Geography Simon Springer.

Those who receive the $27,596 (AUS) scholarship will study “social geographies across a series of cultures,” one of which includes Heavy Metal Geographies.

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Observing metal subcultures, Heavy Metal Geographies takes a look at these different subcultures and how they relate to the world.

The course description reads:

“Heavy Metal is a global phenomenon, representing a major cultural trend for the past four decades. Numerous subgenres exist within the general framework of Heavy Metal, each representing unique subcultures. Many of these subgenres, such as Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal evolved in specific geographical settings, often referred to as ‘scenes’.”

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“While unique scenes have evolved across the globe, the bulk of Heavy Metal’s bands have originated within countries in the northern latitudes. Australia is uniquely positioned within this global evolution, owing to its historical connection to the United Kingdom and shared cultural affinities with its colonial originator. While remote from the geographical heart of Heavy Metal culture, Australia has developed its own unique and passionate approach, producing a number of high profile bands.”

Springer tells Kerrang! that he’s a life-long metal fan himself.

“So basically, I had free reign to recruit students to work in areas of personal interest. As a life-long metal fan who has only recently started to do some work in the area of metal studies, I figured this would be a good conduit to further my research agenda in this area. Certainly when I was a PhD student, I would have loved for someone to tell me that studying about metal is a legitimate academic pursuit!

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I also think the opportunities for funding in this particular area are few and far between, so I thought why not put a call out for applications and see if anyone is interested in studying the geography of heavy metal?”

Those interested in learning more about the scholarships can click here. Deadline for application is Aug. 15, 2019.

Would you like to go to school for heavy metal? Sound off in the comments below!

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