This course explores how fantasy worlds are created across literature, film, and games. The foundational idea is Tolkien's concept of subcreation and the idea of the "secondary world". Through lectures and discussion of excerpts from other books and articles about world building, we will explore what fantasy worlds are, how they are built, and the cultural and importance of these worlds. Through examination and discussion of fantasy texts excerpts we will explore how these concepts apply. We will look at excerpts from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, and N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season, but no previous knowledge of these stories will be necessary for the course.

This module is intended to be accessible to anyone interested in reading, watching, or playing fantasy and those who compose it themselves. Its primary drive is to give students a deeper understanding of the genre, its roots, and its capacity as a narrative device.

The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Session 1: What is a Fantasy World? (Tolkien and the Secondary World). Exploring Tolkien's idea of subcreation and what makes fantasy world feel real.
	Session 2: How world are built. How setting, history, and internal logic shape immersive fantasy worlds.
Week 2	Session 3: Different Ways Fantasy Worlds Work. Exploring how fantasy can operate in different modes and structures.
	Session 4: Fantasy and Reality. How Fantasy Relates to the real world and what it reveals about it.
Week 3	Session 5: Why fantasy matters. The cognitive and imaginative value of fantasy and why we engage with it.
	Session 6: Case study- The Fifth Season. Examining how modern fantasy builds complex and original worlds.
Week 4	Session 7: Case study- The Golden Compass: Looking at world building across literature and adaptation.
	Session 8: Case Study- The Lord of the Rings: Examining generational story telling through myth, fantasy, and multimedia adaptation.