Texas Christian University is offering a new drag queen course where students perform lip syncs, develop an on-stage persona, and study songs like Cardi B’s WAP.

‘The Queer Art of Drag’, which is offered through TCU’s Women and Gender Studies Department, began in spring 2023 and is taught by Dr Nino Testa, whose drag persona is Maria von Clapp.

Students will be introduced to ‘critical drag’, which is described on the module website as exploring ‘drag performance as an outlet for social critique, pedagogy, and queer worldmaking’.

‘Drag is an art form with a rich history of challenging dominant norms and systems of oppression; building queer community; and cultivating experiences of queer joy in a hostile world,’ the website states.

‘This class is especially interested in drag as part of a queer historical lineage and queer political project.’

The 16-week course culminates with a one-to-two-minute solo performance by each student at T CU’s Annual Night of Drag – which took place this year on April 21

Dr Nino Testa, whose drag persona is Maria von Clapp, teaches the new drag course at TCU, where he has been the Associate Director of Women and Gender Studies since 2017

Cardi B’s 2020 hit WAP is on the new TCU course about critical drag theory which is offered through its Women and Gender Studies Department

The course begins with a study called ‘What Even is Gender?’, where Testa introduces students to texts including The Gender Binary is a Tool of White Supremacy by bisexual blogger Kravitz Marshall.

Week three involves studying Cardi B’s 2020 hit WAP and creating a ‘drag vision board’, while week four takes pupils through ‘A Short History of Drag’.

‘Activist drag’ is the topic for week five, while week seven offers a study called ‘Como La Piñata: Quirky, Weird, Genderf*ck, and Alternative Drag’ which focuses on essays about drag and sex work.

Students are required to name their drag persona, describe them, create a drag greeting, strike a pose, write a reflective essay on the development of their act, and perform a one-minute lip sync.

For the latter task, they are encouraged to focus on ‘choreography, movement, gestures, poses, style, facial expressions, and accuracy of the sync’.

The 16-week course culminates with a one-to-two-minute solo performance by each student at TCU’s Annual Night of Drag – which took place this year on April 21.

Their performance can take the form of a ‘sketch or comedy routine’, a ‘drag story or children’s programme’, ‘traditional lip sync’, ‘vocal performance’ or ‘dance’.

Texas Christian University is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, which specializes in the liberal arts

Those hoping to scoop the highest grades – above A- must also participate in a live group number as part of the Spectrum Drag Show on the same night.

Videos posted by TCU Student Affairs social media accounts show pupils performing their drag acts in outfits ranging from long luminous cloaks and giant purple feather boas to bralettes and suspenders.

Their acts and catwalks are met with raucous cheers from the crowd, while one student commented on the video describing the event as the ‘best night of my life’.

The critical drag course is however not all about the fun – as it warns students to be ‘especially mindful’ of how their performances could be ‘interpreted and circulated’ because ‘drag can be controversial and provocative’.

TUC’s course intro states that drag is ‘available to all people’ and the class ‘enthusiastically welcomes the participation of straight and cisgender students’ – though no one is expected to label themselves unless they want to.

It also comes with a ‘name and pronoun policy’ asking students to ‘respectfully use whatever name and pronouns peers, authors and community members ask us to use’.

Students’ performances can take the form of a ‘sketch or comedy routine’, a ‘drag story or children’s programme’, ‘traditional lip sync’, ‘vocal performance’ or ‘dance’

In a video of the TCU annual drag performance posted on TikTok, acts and catwalks are met with raucous cheers from the crowd. One student commented on the video describing the event as the ‘best night of my life’

Students are also given a ‘content warning’ for scenes of ‘anti-queerness, racism, misogyny and other forms of violence’ which could emerge in readings.

‘Some of the performance we will read about or watch may actually perpetuate or circulate racist/sexist jokes, ideas, and norms,’ the intro warns.

‘We watch these texts in order to engage critically with them, but please take care of yourself while reading/watching difficult materials.’