September 2025 Modules

Dr. Peter Baker, then of the University of Virginia, translated Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland into Old English. This module will work with and translate back into Modern English this fun and delightful text.

Want to read the NT in the original Greek? The Greek translation of the Old Testament? This module’s for you! We continue our study introducing learners to the basics of ancient Greek: the alphabet, introduction to the verb system (tenses and moods) and the noun system (the very helpful article, first and second declension). Over several modules, the students will learn the foundations of the language and then students will be able to read texts.

Note: All sessions will be live recorded and shared with all enrolled students afterward for review and to allow those who cannot attend live to still participate in the class.

This series of modules would be for students who want to learn how to read Biblical Hebrew. The course would include some speaking, listening, and writing skills as well. But people who learn Biblical Hebrew do so in order to read it, so reading and comprehension skills would take primary focus.

Course Outline:

Weeks One and Two
• Sessions 1-4: Introduce the Hebrew alphabet and vowel classes
Week Three
• Session 5: History of Hebrew alphabet and vowel pointers
• Session 6: Syllabification
Week Four
• Session 7: Daghesh and Shewa
• Session 8: Reduced vowels

Expelliarmus! Let's read the seventh Harry Potter Book!

We will get together twice a week to explore the series, reading through the books at a relaxed pace. Connect with fellow readers and share your insights as we discover (or rediscover) the magic.

Over two months, we will follow seventeen-year-old Harry's adventures. With Voldemort ascendant, Harry and his friends are now fugitives. They must find a way to break the dark lord's power, or the Wizarding World is lost...

This book club is all about sharing the moments of unexpected, joyful discovery through close reading. Focusing on the text, we will share our personal readings and experiences. We will learn from our classmates in a kindness-first, supportive environment.

Together, we can tackle some big questions about the series. What was it about the Harry Potter books that resonated with so many people? To what extent is it possible or indeed desirable to separate art from artist?

Most of all, however, we will have an inclusive dialogue that embraces a multiplicity of views and enriches our experience of the text.

The literature containing Norse mythology remains one of the most fascinating bodies of medieval storytelling anywhere. Participants will make sense of Norse myths by examining the structures of the tales and investigating the background in which they were written down in manuscripts. Explore Norse mythology with Old Norse expert Dr. Paul Peterson!

A Feast of Writing!

In one weekend, we're going to celebrate creativity by attempting a complete short story, novelette, or novella! Our format will include SPACE class sessions, WriterSpace focused writing time in excellent company, Bandersnatch Breakout room for talking about our craft and peer feedback, and an enthusiastic celebration of Story. So sharpen your quills, line up the inkpots, make a BIG casserole to last the weekend.

Here's the plan:
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Friday from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM Eastern
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Saturday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Eastern
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Saturday from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eastern:
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Sunday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern
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Our goal is to create a completed first draft in one weekend! Prompts, planning, focus methods, peer encouragement, machete editing, character crucibles — we’ll do it all. Writers will write between sessions as well as during.

You are going to end this amazing experience with a complete first draft of your story!


Note: For more information about the Collaborative Feedback Method in SPACE, please check out our video here.

To achieve the Holy Grail, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad and others must face formidable Black Knights, alluring temptresses, inscrutable hermits, and untold supernatural perils. This module examines two works created five-hundred-and-five years apart: “The Tale of the Sankgreal,” in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur (1470) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). The former represents the culmination of three centuries of medieval Arthurian “Grail” literature. The latter—a triumph of twentieth-century absurdist comedy and one of the funniest movies of all time. But these contrasting visions of the Grail Quest also share striking and unexpected similarities in terms of plot, form, and tone. This course looks closely at Malory’s text and the Pythons’ oddly-faithful film reinterpretation, side by side. In so doing, we explore what Arthur, the Grail, and the Middle Ages meant to the original audiences of both works, what they mean to us today, and how changes in form and context radically shape how stories are told and understood.

Module description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):

In this triad of modules we explore Volume 3 of The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien: Three-Volume Box Set, edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. All are welcome to join the class whether new to the series or continuing from a previous module!

JRR Tolkien one of those rare authors whose poetry is as accomplished as his prose writing. Up to this point, though, those who wished to focus primarily on Tolkien’s poetry had to access a significant number of books and online resources to do so, as they were scattered far and wide. But now for the first time, a collected volume of Tolkien’s poetry is available, and it is a Tome of Significant Size!

In this hybrid course, we will read and discuss a selection of these poems, enjoying them for their aesthetic appeal as well as analysing them for Tolkien’s style, use of language, and the poetic forms he employed. This is a hybrid course, in which one class per week will be a lecture and the second class will be group discussion.

There are so many poems in these volumes that the intention is to spread the course over several months. If you can’t make one or more of the months, feel free to dip in and out as suits you!

Module description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):

In this triad of modules we explore Volume 3 of The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien: Three-Volume Box Set, edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. All are welcome to join the class whether new to the series or continuing from a previous module!

JRR Tolkien one of those rare authors whose poetry is as accomplished as his prose writing. Up to this point, though, those who wished to focus primarily on Tolkien’s poetry had to access a significant number of books and online resources to do so, as they were scattered far and wide. But now for the first time, a collected volume of Tolkien’s poetry is available, and it is a Tome of Significant Size!

In this hybrid course, we will read and discuss a selection of these poems, enjoying them for their aesthetic appeal as well as analysing them for Tolkien’s style, use of language, and the poetic forms he employed. This is a hybrid course, in which one class per week will be a lecture and the second class will be group discussion.

There are so many poems in these volumes that the intention is to spread the course over several months. If you can’t make one or more of the months, feel free to dip in and out as suits you!

Module description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):

In this triad of modules we explore Volume 3 of The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien: Three-Volume Box Set, edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. All are welcome to join the class whether new to the series or continuing from a previous module!

JRR Tolkien one of those rare authors whose poetry is as accomplished as his prose writing. Up to this point, though, those who wished to focus primarily on Tolkien’s poetry had to access a significant number of books and online resources to do so, as they were scattered far and wide. But now for the first time, a collected volume of Tolkien’s poetry is available, and it is a Tome of Significant Size!

In this hybrid course, we will read and discuss a selection of these poems, enjoying them for their aesthetic appeal as well as analysing them for Tolkien’s style, use of language, and the poetic forms he employed. This is a hybrid course, in which one class per week will be a lecture and the second class will be group discussion.

There are so many poems in these volumes that the intention is to spread the course over several months. If you can’t make one or more of the months, feel free to dip in and out as suits you!

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.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Session 1: Intro to this Class + Psychology of Faerie Stories: This is a psychology class! We will talk about the literature, but mostly will focus on what happens to us when we engage with the literature. While we will read some Tolkien, most of what we will be reading are scientific studies. To begin, we will define and discuss the true definition of a faerie story? And HOW does it captivate? Introduce “positive psychology” vs. “traditional psychology” and the concept of Flow State.
	Session 2: Psychology of Faerie Stories continued
Week 2	Session 3: Developmental Psychology and Faerie How does Faerie impact the adolescent and child versus the adult. Why are teenagers & adults impacted? Talk about different stages of development specifically moral development
	Session 4: First of two parts on “Fantasy, Recovery and Escape” The first part will focus on “Fantasy” and the difference between Controlled Fantastical Thoughts and being delusional or hallucinating and Tolkien's vies on Lies Vs. Enchantment. We will also talk about Frankl’s theories of logotherapy.
Week 3	Session 5: Recovery & Escape What does Tolkien mean by “cleaning our window”? How does the concept of the “Eucatastrophe” allow people to recover from trauma and build resilience mechanisms?
	Session 6: Tolkien and Carl Jung – Symbolism, Imagination and Magic. This class will be based on the lectures given by Dr. Lance S. Owens on the similarities between Carl Jung’s imaginative experiences writing his “Red Book” and Tolkien’s writing
Week 4	Session 7: Thinking Strategically (non-linear) vs. linear thinking (cognitive psychology and adult learning) How does Fantasy open up non-linear thinking and learning? Plus, how do Tolkien’s stories allow for safe places to think without bias and repressive tolerance. We will introduce various cognitive psychology theories such as Frederickson's Broaden and Build Theory and Mezirow's theories on adult learning.
	Session 8: Spirituality & Evangelium. The religion of LoTR. SBIMI – SHALL PROVE BUT MINE INSTRUMENT! Faith and Finding grace in LoTR and how that type of spirituality contributes to happiness and well-being.