Course Category: Published Lectures
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Tolkien Illustrated: Picturing the Legendarium
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of Tolkien illustration and its visual, contextual, and critical analyses.
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Race, Gender, and the Other in Tolkien’s Middle-earth
This course explores the issues of race, sexuality, gender, and Othering in the mythological legendarium of J.R.R. Tolkien.
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Ursula K. Le Guin: Worldbuilder
This course explores the major science fiction and fantasy works of Ursula K. Le Guin, how they relate to her literary theories and social interests, and how she envisioned and revisioned the worlds of her imagination.
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The Story of the Hobbit
This course examines the life of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, including several important precursors of the book, works that helped establish the genre in which Tolkien was writing, and which influenced Tolkien’s own thinking.
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The Return of King Arthur
This course explores modern retellings of the Arthurian legend in novels, poetry, plays, films, short stories, and comics.
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The Potter Saga
In this course, students will discuss the ancestors to the Harry Potter phenomenon, while examining the works and traditions that inform the Harry Potter universe.
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The Meaning of Star Wars
Join Dr. Amy H. Sturgis as she explores Star Wars from its inception through its many reinventions and innovations to find its true meaning(s).
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Science Fiction Part II
Join award-winning scholar Dr. Amy H. Sturgis as she explores the ways in which the literature of science fiction over time has asked the question: “What if?”
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Norse Myths and Sagas
This course provides an introduction to the myths and sagas of medieval Scandinavia.
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Literature, Film, and Technoculture
This course surveys a range of literary and cinematic narratives that explore the growth, acceleration, and consequences of modern technoculture. Works of literature will be placed alongside films and embedded historically within debates and developments.