As a person who tore through their parents’ savings to get an expensive four-year philosophy degree, I’ve become an expert on famous-people-who-studied-philosophy-and-didn’t-pursue-it-after. Harrison Ford! Lana del Rey! Susan Sarandon! Ally from College Humor! It’s a ritual that most philosophy majors go through, a way to remind ourselves that even if our degree isn’t that practical, it’s not useless (and okay, maybe on a personal note, doing this makes me feel less guilty for ruining my family’s economic stability).
And now, as of Apr. 23 in the year 2020, I can now humbly add another visionary to this list: Ancient Greek philosophy scholar Shakira I. Mebarak Ripoll, otherwise known as just Shakira.
I just graduated from my 4 week Ancient Philosophy course with the University of Pennsylvania (@Penn). I know… my hobbies are very impractical, but it took a lot of hours after the kids were asleep. Thank you Plato and predecessors for all the “fun” over the past month! pic.twitter.com/cFTCXDjliX
— Shakira (@shakira) April 23, 2020
“I just graduated from my 4 week Ancient Philosophy course with the University of Pennsylvania,” she announced on her Twitter page. “I know my hobbies are very impractical, but it took a lot of hours after the kids were asleep. Thank you Plato and predecessors for all the ‘fun’ over the past month!”
According to Vulture, “the noncredit course Shakira took, titled ‘Ancient Philosophy: Plato and His Predecessors,’ is offered by the University of Pennsylvania through a platform called Coursera and is taught by UPenn Department of Philosophy Professor Susan Sauvé Meyer.” Since it’s a course on ancient Greece, the topics covered include Plato and the Pre-Socratic thinkers.
You may focus on Shakira being an intellectual icon (as you should), but as a decided stan of fellow mononym Parmenides of Elea, I’m just glad my man is getting the recognition that he deserves from an international star (even if he wasn’t named). If you want to take a page out of Shakira’s book (be wise and keep on reading the signs of [the Platonic body]), you can check out other online classes that are available right now.
Featured photo is a screen grab from the official music video of Shakira’s “Me Enamoré”
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