by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
October 16, 2025
Solange will teach her own course at the university focused on music curation.
Solange Knowles is taking her artistry up a notch as the first scholar-in-residence at the University of Southern California. The achievement comes years after the talented multihyphenate became a teenage mother and a GED graduate.
The acclaimed singer and songstress, known professionally as Solange, will embark on the new role at USC’s Thornton School of Music. The inaugural appointment will last for three years, beginning Oct. 13.
She started her official residency with a public conversation titled “Beyond Category,” in the Newman Recital Hall at USC. The event featured the music school’s dean, Jason King, and Solange’s own Saint Heron team, Shantel Aurora and Sablā Stays. There, she spoke of her own atypical background in education. Beginning her music career at a young age, Solange also reflected on obtaining her GED and becoming a teenage mom.
“I am a GED graduate…I was a teenage mom. I was pregnant with my son at 17…so I didn’t get to further my education in the classical sense,” she shared. “So to be able to have access and broader tools as a scholar in residence…is really so exciting for me.”
Dean King also emphasized Solange’s unique approach to music curation. He expressed his hope that she’ll apply this curriculum to shape USC students’ own methodology.
“I think the work she does as a music curator is very singular and very unique,” he said. “I’m hoping she brings that uniqueness into the classroom and programming.”
The position will put Solange as a developer of new curriculum and programming in their music curation courses. According to WBLS, she will lend her expertise to a course titled Records of Discovery: Methodologies for Music and Cultural Curatorial Practices. The class is scheduled for the fall 2027 semester.
The course will be done in collaboration with Solange’s multidisciplinary creative group, Saint Heron. The 39-year-old expressed her excitement about the new role, sharing her mission to “nurture students’ curiosity” through this course.
“I am eager to use the coming year to further develop and solidify my syllabus, Records of Discovery, with Saint Heron,” Solange shared in a statement.
“My goal is to nurture students’ curiosity while advancing educational frameworks that reflect the expansiveness of the landscapes—both sonically and visually—that surround musical expressions.”
The esteemed scholar will lead workshops while providing mentorship and support to students and faculty at Thornton. As an official Trojan, she will also participate in USC’s Dean’s Creative Vanguard program, bringing more distinguished artists and creators to the Los Angeles institution.
RELATED CONTENT: Solange Launches Saint Heron Digital Archive To Keep Black Literature Accessible
