Millions of people emotionally connect with Middle Earth in ways that are unique to Tolkien’s works. All sorts of people.. young and old, all walks of life, all over the globe, have reported using Tolkien’s writing as comfort in times of stress, a classroom in times of confusion, and a sanctuary in times of danger.

How many people feel this way about Middle Earth? Well, Tolkien’s stories are valued at roughly the same amount as the GDP of Iceland. That’s a lot of fans.

But Why?

Why do we love Faerie, and specifically Tolkien, with such passion. What is it about Middle Earth that elicits such a powerful emotional response?

This class will cover what those typical responses look like and then discuss the psychological mechanisms behind them. We will discuss what it is about Faerie, and Tolkien’s writing specifically, that is so successful at prompting these psychological functions.

This class is not so much about Tolkien’s work, but rather it is a study of the people, like all of us, who are impacted by his work and why we react the way we do. We will read The Professor's own theories about Faerie and then connect these ideas with various psychological studies.