A wide-angle view of the Fisher Center at Belmont University during a special event for Dolly: An Original Musical. The stage features a large screen displaying the musical's logo and the names of panelists: Dolly Parton, director Bartlett Sher, and The Tennessean's Marcus Dowling. The audience fills the theater, and the panelists are seated in a discussion onstage under warm stage lighting.
Dolly U at Belmont University Logo

Introducing Dolly U

Groundbreaking Dolly U Partnership Promises Immersive Learning Across Disciplines on Real-World Project

Belmont University, in collaboration with global superstar Dolly Parton and CTK Enterprises founder Danny Nozell, is thrilled to announce a first of its kind partnership that will cultivate a transformative and immersive educational experience for students across a variety of disciplines. This initiative, “Dolly U,” will celebrate and amplify the life and music of Dolly Parton—which is still being written. The program will foster and inspire creativity, innovation and character development in a rising generation of entertainment and community leaders. 

Dolly U is officially launching with several collaborative projects and interdisciplinary initiatives connected to Parton’s upcoming Broadway show, “Dolly: An Original Musical.” Based on Parton’s life story with music written by the singer-songwriter, the musical is set to have its world premiere in Belmont’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in summer 2025 before its Broadway debut in 2026. 

Get Dolly: An Original Musical Tickets


Dolly U: The Details

Centered around the musical, the initial Dolly U Program features two distinctive opportunities for immersive education around the making of “Dolly: An Original Musical:” Details on Coursework and Fellowships or email dollyu@belmont.edu to learn more.

Summer Fellowship Program

The Dolly U Fellowship Program is designed to provide real-world, experiential-learning opportunities for up to six (6) Belmont University undergraduate, rising juniors or seniors who demonstrate high levels of professionalism, work ethic, confidentiality, and integrity. Fellows will journey alongside the Dolly: An Original Musical team to help launch the production in The Fisher Center this summer.  

Students in a Belmont University classroom presenting a group project to their peers, with one student pointing to a projected image of a stadium on a screen

Coursework

Four project-based courses are being offered during the Fall 2025 semester, providing students chances to learn about Dolly’s storied career and/or opportunities to contribute to the musical while receiving course credit. Details on the courses that are part of the Dolly U program can be found below.

Fall 2025 Courses

Faculty: Annie Price

A journalistic writing and producing class focused on crafting the structure, story, and style of a music-based documentary. The class brings together motion picture and journalism students to collaborate in a real-world environment. Students will review and analyze hours of professional footage shot by Dolly Parton's production company CTK Enterprises as they go behind the scenes preparing Dolly: An Original Musical for the Broadway stage. Journalism students will first craft the spine of the story and prepare scripts for edit. They'll then collaborate with motion pictures student editors to assemble, style and polish the documentary film tentatively titled Dolly: The Making of a Musical.

Faculty: Jennifer Bergen

An upper-level editing class focused on crafting the story and structure of a documentary. The class brings together motion picture and journalism students to collaborate in a real-world working environment. Using professional footage shot by CTK Enterprises, editors will collaborate with writers and producers to create stories for the documentary Dolly: The Making of a Musical. The documentary will go behind the scenes to chronicle the making of Dolly: An Original Musical.

Faculty: Jodi Marr and Victoria Banks

This course explores Dolly Parton's journey as a multi-genre songwriter and recording artist. Through in-depth analysis of her significant /pivotal songs, students will explore her songwriting techniques, thematic choices, genre versatility, and the cultural impact of her work. The course also examines her career challenges and opportunities in terms of her artist identity and development trajectory, and how key songs defined her as an artist and also influenced the broader music and entertainment landscape. The course will also include the study of her contributions to film, television, musical theater, and philanthropy, highlighting her role as a storyteller, collaborator and visionary icon.

Faculty: Brandon Holle

A study of modern marketing research techniques and their applications. Topics include research design, questionnaire design, sampling, data collection and analyses, and report preparation and presentation. This course will include a project connected to Dolly: An Original Musical.

Previous Courses

Dolly Parton: Icon & Influence

Faculty: Brittany Schaffer & Caroline Rupard

The life and career of Dolly Parton spans over 60 years of impact and inspiration. From hit songs to major motion pictures, best-selling books to a thriving theme park, Dolly’s creative journey continues to shape culture and inspire generations. This course explores the keystone moments of creating an American icon through both lecture and intimate interviews from experts and key players in Dolly’s career.

Story-Driven Merchandising

Faculty: Rick Rekedal

This class examines how entertainment properties connect with audiences through consumer products, transforming stories into lifestyle experiences. Key topics include the Story Adoption Engine, toyetic potential and understanding consumer needs. Students will learn to ideate and pitch products that extend audience engagement beyond entertainment, with a focus on products connected to Dolly: An Original Musical.

Integrated Marketing Communications

Faculty: Dr. Lora Harding

The marketing communications landscape is more complex than ever. Recognizing the importance of coordinating the numerous and varied consumer touch points available to marketers, this course approaches the promotional aspect of marketing from an integrated marketing communications perspective. In particular, although traditional media advertising is often the most visible part of a firm’s communications, attention will also be given to the strategic role of other elements of the promotional mix, including digital/internet marketing, direct marketing, sales promotion and public relations. Emphasis will be placed on developing consumer insights on which to base creative and media decisions, as well as the importance of setting and evaluating performance against actionable promotional objectives.

Partnership Marketing in Music

Faculty: John Zarling & Jackie Campbell

This course examines the principles and strategies of partnership marketing, sponsorship, strategic alignments, non-profit collaborations and business development as applied to the music industry. It requires a basic understanding of negotiation/sales strategy, legal agreements, music rights and ownership, as well as marketing and promotion within the entertainment industry.

Other Dolly U Opportunities

Join the Belmont Events Team for the Summer

The Office of Strategic Venues and Event Services (OSVES) plans to launch their inaugural BEST Summer Program in May 2025. For students interested in gaining real event experience, especially through Dolly: An Original Musical, look no further than the Belmont Event Specialist Training (BEST) Program. Opportunities to connect at the intersection of curriculum and experience range from event management and operations support to student team leadership and more. If you plan to stick around Nashville for the summer or are interested in exploring the opportunity to do so, fill out this BEST Summer Interest Form and a member of the OSVES team will be in touch with you.

Dolly U at the SPARK Symposium

At the Spark Symposium on Wednesday, April 16, students involved in this semester’s Dolly U courses will share what they worked on this semester in partnership with CTK and Results Global. 

Join us at the special session entitled, “Dolly U: Studying Dolly 9 to 5” (11:45am-12:45pm; JMC 404), to see what we’ve been up to! 

Three Belmont University students talking and smiling outdoors on campus, with the iconic Bell Tower visible in the background during sunny weather.

Get to Know Belmont University

Nestled in the heart of Nashville, Belmont hosts a vibrant creative community, with top-ranked programs in arts, music, business, design and so much more. Immerse yourself in a supportive environment guided by industry experts and accomplished artists with world-class facilities and a collaborative spirit. Discover the innovation, like Dolly U, that makes Belmont unlike any other college campus.

Watch the Announcement

The program begins at 9:20.