British Literature Portal

In his debut short novel, Kazuo Ishiguro (2017 Nobel Prize winner) explores topics such as the reliability of memory, womanhood, and the relationships between men. Set in both Britain and Nagasaki, Ishiguro takes the reader into the world of Etsuko a Japanese woman struggling to fulfill the expectations of women after the war. We will discuss the themes, language, imagery, and character development in a relaxed and dynamic way.

Considered the first sci-fi novel, Frankenstein is much more than the famous monster who has entered pop culture. From philosophy to science, this novel deals with many issues, confuses the reader, and makes us wonder who the real hero is. We will discuss the themes, imagery, character development, and the many different allusions to other texts mentioned in the book in a relaxed and interactive way.

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.

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.

Wands at the ready, let's read the fourth 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 fourteen-year-old Harry's adventures as he is forced to compete in the deadly Triwizard Tournament. But who entered him in the tournament, and why? The answers will reveal the dark forces poised to destroy the wizarding world...

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.

Wands at the ready, let's read the fourth 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 fourteen-year-old Harry's adventures as he is forced to compete in the deadly Triwizard Tournament. But who entered him in the tournament, and why? The answers will reveal the dark forces poised to destroy the wizarding world...

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.

Wands at the ready, let's read the fourth 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 fourteen-year-old Harry's adventures as he is forced to compete in the deadly Triwizard Tournament. But who entered him in the tournament, and why? The answers will reveal the dark forces poised to destroy the wizarding world...

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.

Avis! Let's read the sixth 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 sixteen-year-old Harry's adventures as he fights to discover the secret of Voldemort's immortality. Rivalries become deadly and betrayals lurk around every corner...

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.

Avis! Let's read the sixth 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 sixteen-year-old Harry's adventures as he fights to discover the secret of Voldemort's immortality. Rivalries become deadly and betrayals lurk around every corner...

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.

Protego! Let's read the fifth 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 fifteen-year-old Harry's adventures as the clouds of war gather over the Wizarding World. Fates collide, heroes fall, and prophecies unfold...

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.

Protego! Let's read the fifth 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 fifteen-year-old Harry's adventures as the clouds of war gather over the Wizarding World. Fates collide, heroes fall, and prophecies unfold...

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.

Blimey, let's read the third 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 one month, we will follow thirteen-year-old Harry's adventures as he contends with an escaped mass murderer. Yet all is not as it seems. As Harry grapples with the consequences of a hidden betrayal, he must confront the meaning of fear. Failure may just cost him his soul…

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.

Merlin's beard, let's read the first Harry Potter book!

By popular demand, here is the long-awaited Harry Potter book club! 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.

First, we will go back to where it all began, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Over one month, we will follow eleven-year-old Harry's adventures as he commences his study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Together, we will explore themes like friendship, courage, and the power of love.

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.

Building upon our exploration of Garner's foundational fantasy The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, this follow-up course delves into its darker, more complex sequel, The Moon of Gomrath. Where our first course examined Garner's introduction to the magical world of Alderley Edge, this second instalment investigates his evolution as a writer through a narrative that Philip Pullman noted "presents a less conventional fantasy on every level." We'll analyse how Garner introduces the dichotomy between "High Magic" (controlled, patriarchal, rational) and "Old Magic" (wild, feminine, emotional), exploring how this tension manifests through Susan's profound connection to ancient Celtic forces and Colin's desperate attempts to save her. The course will particularly focus on Garner's emerging literary voice—more direct, stripped-down language and a less linear plot structure that would come to define his later work.

Our discussions will examine how The Moon of Gomrath subverts traditional fantasy conventions through its abrupt, ambiguous ending and its refusal to provide neat resolutions. We'll explore Garner's masterful evocation of "both the wonder and terror of the mythical forces that hide behind the mundane surface of the world," and how the book rewards readers on multiple levels—offering adventure for younger audiences while presenting complex philosophical themes for adults. The course will conclude by considering how this sequel, with its "deeply melancholic and powerful story," marked Garner's transition toward more challenging literary territory, establishing themes he would explore throughout his distinguished career. Join us as we continue our journey through Garner's mythic landscape, where ancient magic awakens in modern England with consequences both thrilling and profound.

What is love? This is the question C.S. Lewis explored in his classic book, The Four Loves. Over four weeks, we will read and discuss The Four Loves as a class, exploring his four classifications and their philosophical underpinnings. Comparing and contrasting Lewis with short excerpts from Plato's Symposium and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, we will explore the themes of affection, friendship, eros and charity.

This is the Landing Page for Dr. Sara Brown's Discovering the Discworld series. Using the links on this page, you can explore each member of this series by going to its associated module page for more details.

Terry Pratchett said that Tiffany Aching "...started with a girl lying down by a river, on the first page of The Wee Free Men". With the character of Tiffany, a witch-in-training with initially only a frying pan and her common sense to help her, Pratchett said that he wanted to "restate" the purpose of magic on the Discworld and the relationship between wizards, witches, and others. He included ideas of responsibility and "guarding your society" as he felt it drew closer to the reality of a witch – that is, "the village herbalist, the midwife, the person who knew things". Pratchett chose a young protagonist because when you're young "you have to learn," and he chose the name "Tiffany" because it evoked anything but a powerful witch.

Throughout the series, Tiffany grows both as a young girl and woman and as a witch. In this course, we will follow the arc of Tiffany’s progress from naïve young girl to a powerful witch in her own right, who takes over from Granny Weatherwax, is hailed by the Nac Mac Feagle as their new ‘hag o’ the hills,’ and whose name, in their language, is Tir-far-thóinn or "Land Under Wave."

Access to the listed texts is desirable. Prior knowledge of at least the majority of the listed texts will be assumed.

'Trousers. That's the secret...Put on trousers and the world changes. We walk different. We act different. I see these girls and I think: idiots! Get yourself some trousers!'

In a journey through the Discworld series, from The Colour of Magic to The Shepherd’s Crown, there is huge progress on the Disc as it journeys from the Century of the Fruitbat into the Century of the Anchovy. Inventions, enterprises and cultural progress are at the forefront of Terry Pratchett’s industrial revolution-based books. All the Industrial Revolution books follow a different form of technology as it is introduced to the Disc, and we get to see how these impact upon the inhabitants’ lives. For example, The Truth is about Ankh-Morpork’s first ever printing press, and Raising Steam looks at what happens when steam trains are brought to the Disc. Like any other world, though, change is not always easy, and Pratchett shows us via his trademark satire and humour how challenging – and how illuminating – progress can be.

Over the eight classes we will read the six books, in publication order, with one book being discussed in each of six classes. Two classes will be built in that will allow for further discussion of the themes raised in this series.

Terry Pratchett’s early work fits the category of parody, and his later work certainly maintains that early mocking spirit. In his later Discworld novels, however, especially The City Watch sequence, Pratchett turns his mocking lens from generic conventions and tropes to the dangerous ideologies and power structures that permeate contemporary urban life. Edward James calls The City Watch novels “the most political of Pratchett’s works,” and Neil Gaiman reminds us that “beneath any jollity, there is a foundation of fury.” Pratchett’s “fury” and the City Watch novels’ politics together invite us to consider the sequence as social satire and explore what Pratchett may be arguing needs to change, whilst still enjoying the novels for their humour and wonderfully entertaining narrative style.

In this course, we will explore The City Watch novels and do exactly that: laugh and have fun whilst discussing the underlying messages that Pratchett offers us.

Access to the listed texts is desirable. Prior knowledge of at least the majority of the listed texts will be assumed.

Let us continue our journey through the Discworld series!

Over the eight classes we will read the seven books, in publication order, with one book being discussed in each of seven classes. The final class will be built to allow for further discussion of the themes raised in this series.

Access to the texts listed below is desirable. Prior knowledge of at least the majority of the listed texts will be assumed.

Like most literary Grim Reapers, Discworld’s Death is a black-robed skeleton (usually - he wears the Dean's "Born to Rune" leather jacket in Soul Music, and overalls in Reaper Man), carrying a scythe or, for royalty, a sword. He is an anthropomorphised personification of a natural process who sometimes has his duties carried out by his apprentice Mort, or his granddaughter Susan, and is occasionally accompanied by the Death of Rats. The Death of Pratchett’s Discworld is a parody of several other personifications of death; unlike many of them, though, he has a personality beyond this. As an immortal outside observer, Death is fascinated by humans, puzzled both by their stupidity and their fortitude despite it. Often out of concern for their well-being, or sometimes simply curiosity, he tries to understand the ways of humans – why and how they do the things they do. Needless to say, this leads to all sorts of disasters (including taking time off from his job reaping souls to become a farmer) but, in the process, Death learns ever more about humans and begins to sympathise with them. Death has many purposes in the narratives; however, in this compelling character, Pratchett has created a figure that makes us laugh but more importantly, he makes us think. In some ways, the Death series is ironically the most human of all.

Access to the listed required texts is desirable and prior knowledge of at least the majority of those texts will be assumed.

We will also be talking about Death’s appearances in other Discworld books, as well as in the short story "Death and What Comes Next" (provided as a pdf).

Terry Pratchett's witches - Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick - are more than just a marvelous spoof of those in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'. In addition to their undoubted comedic value, they are also a voice for some of the major themes of the Discworld novels. Through readings of extracts from the relevant novels, as well as reference to some modern scholarship, we will examine the differences between witch magic and wizard magic; the role of witches in Discworld society; Pratchett's representations of gender; themes of power and authority, and the presentation of the minor witch characters. Access to the listed texts is desirable. Prior knowledge of at least the majority of the listed texts will be assumed.

Dive into the enchanting world of Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, a foundational work of British fantasy by an author described by Philip Pullman as "the most important British writer of fantasy since Tolkien." This course examines Garner's masterful integration of ancient British folklore with the real landscape of Alderley Edge in Cheshire, where two children—Colin and Susan—become the unexpected guardians of a magical jewel coveted by dark forces. Through close reading, we'll explore how Garner uses the tension between the mundane and magical to create a narrative where real English places become imbued with mythic significance, transforming ordinary landscapes into sites of extraordinary adventure and ancient power.

Our discussions will uncover the deeper themes that make this work resonate with readers of all ages: the timeless battle between good and evil, the power of friendship against overwhelming odds, and the profound connection between humans and their landscapes. We'll examine how Garner's unique approach to "re-enchanting modern life by presenting it as a thin skin concealing ancient folklore" not only created a beloved children's classic but established a distinctive voice in fantasy literature that continues to influence writers today. Join us for a fantastical journey that reveals how this seemingly simple adventure story operates as a complex parable about place, identity, and the persistence of magic in the modern world.

Immerse yourself in the profound dialogues of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth", a philosophical and metaphysical exploration of love, mortality, and hope within the legendarium of Middle-earth. This class invites you to delve into the intricate conversations between Finrod, an Elven king, and Andreth, a wise-woman of the race of Men. Their discourse investigates the depths of human (and Elven) existence, examining the divergent perspectives on life, death, and the overarching destiny of their worlds.

Throughout this course, we will dissect the rich layers of Tolkien’s narrative, uncovering the symbolic and thematic significances that make "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" a cornerstone of his mythopoeic work. Together, we will work on a comprehensive analysis of the text, contextualizing it within Tolkien's broader legendarium and drawing connections to his other works. Our aim will be to gain a deeper understanding of the philosophical questions posed by Finrod and Andreth, and how these reflect Tolkien’s own views on faith, despair, and redemption.

Whether you are a seasoned Tolkien scholar or a passionate enthusiast of his world, this class offers an opportunity to engage with one of the most profound and lesser-known dialogues in Middle-earth, enriching your appreciation for Tolkien's genius and the enduring legacy of his work.

This course offers a deep analysis of Tolkien’s seminal essay “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” which truly changed the course of scholarship on the most important text in Tolkien’s Cauldron of Story. The essay began as Tolkien’s 1936 Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture to the British Academy and was published that year. Thanks to “Beowulf and the Critics” (2002) published by Michael D.C. Drout we have a wonderful edition of the early drafts. Tolkien’s essay brings to the fore the powerful achievement of the Beowulf poet in crafting an expression of celebration and defiance, of heroism and death. In this fun SPACE course, we will explore Tolkien’s attitudes and assumptions on the poem in greater detail. Students will gain a greater appreciation for the essay and for Tolkien’s legendarium.

So, we’ve had a FIRST Tolkien’s Letters SPACE course – but what about SECOND Tolkien’s Letters SPACE course? And this time, we just focus on ONE letter?

In 2023, we were presented with a Revised and Expanded edition of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, which gave us the opportunity for an even deeper dive into the life, the works, and the wonderful procrastinations of a much-loved author. Already a fan and scholar favourite, Letter 131 to Milton Waldman of Collins Publishers is now published in full and is one of the longest of the letters at around ten thousand words. The letter now also includes an attachment at the end, which is a list of individual tales with short descriptions, some of which were proposed by Tolkien for publication.

Designed to persuade Waldman to publish both The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, Letter 131 provides remarkable insight into Tolkien’s mythology, and his belief in the interdependence of these two works. In this course, we will read through this letter in great detail, making the connections between the letter and the texts, and immersing ourselves in wonder that is Tolkien’s subcreated world.

Sudying fairy tales takes us back to a time when stories where passed from culture to culture. These stories, replicated around the world, deal with fears and axieties, but they also give us hope as it is the smallest and most vulnerable the one who usually triumphs.

In these modules, we will explore different authors and fairy tales from around the world. Students will have the opportunity to read and re-read the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, Andrew Lang, Oscar Wilde and fairy tales from differnet cultures such as Russia, and Japan. Each month, our preceptors will survey the group using to see which text students are most interested in exploring next.

We offer the following Fairy Tales Studies modules:
• Fairy Tales: An Adventure from the Writer's Perspective
• Fairy Tales: From Apples to Bears
• Fairy Tales: Rats, Mice, and Birds
• Fairy Tales: Tricksters, Fools, and Villains
• Introduction to Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales
• Introduction to Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales: A House of Pomegranates
• Introduction to Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales: The Happy Prince and Other Tales
• Japanese Fairy Tales and Children's Literature
• Russian Fairy Tales: Journeys, Quests, and Chicken Legs
• Yōkai and Legends: Exploring the Weird in Japanese and Latin American Cultures
• Encountering the Japanese Weird through Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan
• Exploring Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham
• Fairy Tales: Beauty and the Beast

Note: Each module stands on its own and no previous knowledge is required. The idea is to read and discuss these stories, their themes, imagery, and see how we respond to them.

Two classics of Gothic literature wrestle with the problem of good and evil: Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). The former, a work of early science fiction, and the latter, a Faustian fantasy, both imagine a human psyche divided in two. In Stevenson’s tale, Dr. Jekyll attempts to isolate and contain the evil side of his nature, but creates a monster he cannot control. In Wilde’s “poisonous book,” Dorian enjoys seemingly eternal youth while his portrait suffers the physical and moral consequences of his wickedness —learning too late that, sooner or later (as the saying goes), we all get the face we deserve.

In examining this sinister pair of pairs, this course looks first at the text of each novel. Next, we survey the shock and alarm these books inspired among the Victorian public, as captured by a range of early reader responses. In their contrasting approaches to the same theme, both works reveal insights into the fragility of human identity, the limits of scientific understanding, and the dark power of artistic creation.

Sir Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is widely regarded as a modern classic, has been described by The New Statesman as “the most ambitious work since The Lord of the Rings,” and has been adapted onto stage, radio, and screen. The series is also deep and complex, drawing from a rich array of literary, philosophical, and theological ideas.

In this three-module series we will read, successively, the three novels in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, juxtaposing each with selected materials that will allow us to read Pullman’s work both on its own and in conversation with other works.

Note: Students can join one, two, or all three modules. There are no prerequisites.

Sir Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is widely regarded as a modern classic, has been described by The New Statesman as “the most ambitious work since The Lord of the Rings,” and has been adapted onto stage, radio, and screen. The series is also deep and complex, drawing from a rich array of literary, philosophical, and theological ideas.

In this three-module series we will read, successively, the three novels in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, juxtaposing each with selected materials that will allow us to read Pullman’s work both on its own and in conversation with other works. Students can join one, two, or all three modules. There are no prerequisites.

• Module 1: His Dark Materials in Context: The Golden Compass (a.k.a. Northern Lights) (October 2023)

• Module 2: His Dark Materials in Context: The Subtle Knife (December 2023)

• Module 3: His Dark Materials in Context: The Amber Spyglass (January 2023)

Sir Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is widely regarded as a modern classic, has been described by The New Statesman as “the most ambitious work since The Lord of the Rings,” and has been adapted onto stage, radio, and screen. The series is also deep and complex, drawing from a rich array of literary, philosophical, and theological ideas.

In this three-module series we will read, successively, the three novels in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, juxtaposing each with selected materials that will allow us to read Pullman’s work both on its own and in conversation with other works. Students can join one, two, or all three modules. There are no prerequisites.

Sir Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is widely regarded as a modern classic, has been described by The New Statesman as “the most ambitious work since The Lord of the Rings,” and has been adapted onto stage, radio, and screen. The series is also deep and complex, drawing from a rich array of literary, philosophical, and theological ideas.

In this three-module series we will read, successively, the three novels in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, juxtaposing each with selected materials that will allow us to read Pullman’s work both on its own and in conversation with other works. Students can join one, two, or all three modules. There are no prerequisites.

• Module 1: His Dark Materials in Context: The Golden Compass (a.k.a. Northern Lights) (October 2023)

• Module 2: His Dark Materials in Context: The Subtle Knife (December 2023)

• Module 3: His Dark Materials in Context: The Amber Spyglass (January 2023)

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.

“Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead… and men say that he shall come again…”

Is Arthur dead? Or was he taken to Avalon to be healed? And will he indeed come again one day? Written within the confines of a common prison, Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur (c. 1470) addresses these very questions—trying to make sense of Arthur's legendary reign and “piteous” death for a war-torn England at the very close of the Middle Ages. In reading Malory's widely beloved and arguably definitive retelling of the death of the Arthur, this course examines the final dissolution of the Round Table, from the doomed love affair of Lancelot and Guinevere to Arthur's fatal (or near-fatal) wounding by Mordred—a continuous narrative contained within the last two books of Malory's sprawling chronicle, “The Book of Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere” and the titular “The Most Piteous Tale of the Morte Arthur.” Told with a both poignant sense of loss and an undisguised enthusiasm for chivalric adventure, this lively and idiosyncratic tale of Arthur's death combines the best of all the Arthurian epics that preceded it, and would influence all those that would follow after.

C.S. Lewis is one of the most prolific and influential writers of the 20th century. And yet, in his early career as an Oxford don, he viewed himself as a failed poet. Moreover, his most canonical and transformational writing happened during the most stress-filled periods of his life. This short course allows students to peek into the writing life of C.S. Lewis. Our goal is to see through the lines of printed text by visiting the letters and archival remains of Lewis in a virtual setting. Most of C.S. Lewis's papers remain undigitized and unpublished, available only locally at archives in North America and England.

As Professor Brenton Dickieson has visited these archives, he is able to invite students to appreciate C.S. Lewis's writing life by looking at the way that he consciously and unconsciously built his literary career. This course is for writers who are developing their own habits and literary life-prints, as well as folks who are curious about C.S. Lewis's life beyond the biographies and bestselling books.

We are not doing text close readings, but looking at the “paratextual” information available to us: writing drafts, letters, diary entries, manuscripts and typescripts, title, and the like.

Week 1: Lewis: Pen, Ink, Paper
• C.S. Lewis’s Single-jointed Self-Conception as a Writer
• What Lewis Says about his Writing Habits
• Legendary Bonfires, Stuffed Dolls, and American Suckers: A Story of Lewis’s Papers and Manuscripts
• The Screwtape MS. Story: Part 1

Week 2: Leaves, Bombs, Stains
• The Screwtape MS. Story: Part 2
• “Villainous Handwriting”: Charlie Starr’s Lewis Handwriting and Rough Draft vs. Fair Draft
• Reconsidering the Lindskoog Affair with Manuscript Evidence of “The Dark Tower”

Week 3: Joy, Theft, Death
• “The Quest of Bleheris”: Lewis’s Teenage Novel

Week 4:
• Is it True that Lewis Wrote in a Single Draft?
• A Grief Observed
• Tumbling Through the Wardrobe: The Discovery of Narnia
• Arthurian Torso
• A New Sketch of Lewis’s Writing Process(es)

Note: This course includes a significant amount of visual material on the screen. Please contact the SPACE team if you have visual accessibility requirements and we will do everything we can to accommodate.

Explore the craft, impact, and meaning of literature through a personalized tutorial in Literature & Storytelling. Whether you're analyzing a classic novel, developing a comparative study of myths and epics, or researching contemporary fiction, our preceptors will help you deepen your understanding of narrative, genre, theme, and interpretation. Tutorials can focus on literary analysis, theory, close reading, or creative-critical intersections. Whether you’re preparing for graduate school, crafting a paper, or simply diving deeper into your favorite texts, this tutorial invites you to read widely, think critically, and grow as a literary thinker.

One of the most relevant novels you could read right now was written almost two centuries ago. Mary Shelley’s The Last Man asks what it means to be human while living in unprecedented times. This 1826 classic of apocalyptic science fiction considers the implications of a global pandemic, a rapidly changing environment, and the failures of political and social institutions. Part imaginative autobiography, part science fictional warning, and part ecocritical thought experiment, The Last Man forces us to examine our assumptions about our present and future.

In this module we will consider Mary Shelley’s novel in the context of her life, times, and intellectual history. We will also explore the afterlife of The Last Man in critical discussions of the ominously similar challenges we face in the 21st century. In the process, we will discuss the novel’s lasting meanings and contributions as pioneering work of speculative fiction.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: The Last Man
	Discussion 1: Introduction and Volume 1
Week 2	Lecture 2: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
	Discussion 2: Volume 2
Week 3	Lecture 3: Inspirations and Ancestor Texts
	Discussion 3: Volume 3
Week 4	Lecture 4: Pandemic and Post-Apocalyptic Literature
	Discussion 4: Themes and Takeaways

In this module we will read and discuss a collection of some of the best British poetry of the 21st century, considering the ways in which each poet addresses the anxieties of our time.

Join Ms. Elise for a cozy, relaxed Book Club as we read and discuss the magic of C.S. Lewis's Prince Caspian . In this Book Club style module, each participant comes to our Club meetings with their own reflections and discussion questions about the text. YOU guide the magic!

Join Ms. Elise for a cozy and relaxed Book Club as we read and discuss the magic of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Join Ms. Elise for a cozy, relaxed Book Club as we read and discuss the magic of C.S. Lewis's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader . In this Book Club style module, each participant comes to our Club meetings with their own reflections and discussion questions about the text. YOU guide the magic!

Join Ms. Elise for a cozy and relaxed Book Club as we read and discuss the magic of C.S. Lewis’s highly esteemed series, The Chronicles of Narnia.

This course introduces the basics of Middle English language and literature, including grammar, syntax, and pronunciation. Designed for students new to reading Middle English texts in their original form, the course focuses mainly on the English of London and the south of England in the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries—the language of Chaucer, Gower, Langland and others.

As a language-learning course as well as a literature course, the first half of each meeting will be devoted to reading Middle English aloud and answering questions about pronunciation and comprehension; the second half will focus on the reading’s content, from basics of plot and conventions of genre to the historical context of each text. Course readings include: a selection of lyric poetry, two short poems by Chaucer, the chivalric romance Sir Orfeo, the Chester play of Noah’s Flood, a chronicle of the reign of King Henry V, Chaucer’s Treatise on the Astrolabe, and selections from the first English autobiography by a woman, The Book of Margery Kemp.

While the idea of establishing an ‘actual’ utopia has been disparaged since the first half of the twentieth century from socio-political perspectives (e.g. the failed age of ideology from 1917-1945), literary and related cultural narratives have a long history of imagining and representing utopia (also paradise, the golden age, etc.). These utopias often function to criticize the problematic social norms and climates of their times as well as providing progressive imaginings for a better future, often based on certain ideals or virtues. In this module, we go on a chronological tour of different representations of utopia, including: the paleolithic utopia of hunter-gatherers (e.g. as discussed in Harari’s Homo Sapiens) (before 10,000 BC), the Bronze Age utopia of Minoan Crete (4000-1400 BCE), Plato’s mythical island of Atlantis (ca 400 BC), the pastoral utopia of the Roman poet Virgil (ca 40 BC), the New World utopia of Sir Thomas More (1516), the Enlightened, reasoned utopia of Robinson Crusoe (1719), Tolkien’s fantasy utopia of Númenor (ca 1940), and more.

This module looks at two late plays frequently overlooked in Shakespeare studies: Pericles, Prince of Tyre and Cymbeline. In Pericles, Shakespeare and collaborator George Wilkins present a medievalist fairy-tale of adventure on the high seas, set in the ancient Mediterranean and narrated by Middle English poet, John Gower. In Cymbeline, a princess’s attempt to rid herself of the suitor she loathes and reunite with the man she loves leads to a tangle of escapes, pursuits, and mistaken identities. Decried by some critics for their eccentric and eclectic plots, both plays feature grand voyages across land and sea, benevolent magic, and the loss and recovery of true love.

This module continues the examination of Shakespeare’s late work with two baffling and beautiful plays. The Winter’s Tale begs the question: where does art end and magic begin? Containing the bard’s most famous stage direction—“Exit, pursued by a bear”—this tale of jealousy and forgiveness transforms from domestic tragedy into pastoral comedy, before finally arriving at one of Shakespeare's strangest endings. The Two Noble Kinsmen, Shakespeare’s final work, gives Chaucer’s Middle English "The Knight’s Tale" a Renaissance rewrite. Co-authored with rising star of the Jacobean stage, John Fletcher, this tragicomedy expands the scope of Chaucer’s female characters while hinting at a range of suppressed, taboo romantic desires. Blending the poignant and the absurd, the playwrights worried that their presumptuous "modern" rewrite would raise Chaucer's angry ghost!

Language is never more concise and powerful than in the Art of Poetry. Sadly, this art is not consistently taught, nor even consistently admired, having become tainted with the mindset that it is archaic, useless, or unintelligible. Those who seek to learn to write or enjoy this art, are frequently rebuffed by conflicting definitions and daunting rules and rhyme schemes.

In this module, students would be introduced to reading and writing basic poetry techniques and examples, learning how to “color” outside the lines with their own words, and to discover the unique power of concise language, empowering them to set out on their own individual poetry journey.

(This course will utilize the Collaborative Feedback Method to better support all poetic explorers!)

This is the landing page for Dr. Sara Brown's series on The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper.. Using the links on this page, you can explore each member of this series by going to its associated module page for more details. Note that students can jump in at any month/part of the series. There are no prerequisites.

Susan Cooper’s classic fantasy series takes us into a world where the forces of the Light battle against those of the Dark, but these are also coming-of-age stories in which children are at the forefront of the conflict. Deeply rooted in the folklore of the British landscape, the narratives are often set in spaces encoded in ancient wisdom and traditions and employ, as Tolkien did in his legendarium, songs and verse that pass on those traditions.

Susan Cooper’s classic fantasy series takes us into a world where the forces of the Light battle against those of the Dark, but these are also coming-of-age stories in which children are at the forefront of the conflict. Deeply rooted in the folklore of the British landscape, the narratives are often set in spaces encoded in ancient wisdom and traditions and employ, as Tolkien did in his legendarium, songs and verse that pass on those traditions.

In this book, the third of the series, we return to Cornwall with the Drew children and encounter more of the Cornish folklore and traditions we first saw inn Over Sea, Under Stone. Like the previous books in the series, this is an atmospheric and eerie story, steeped in magic and ancient folklore. The ‘Greenwitch’ of the title is a giant effigy made of sticks in the form of a woman, constructed by the women of Trewissick and sacrificed to the sea in a yearly ritual – not just an inanimate object, but a living being, with a mind of her own. This is ‘Wild Magic’, or the magic of nature, another element in the ongoing battle between Light and Dark. The Greenwitch holds the key to understanding the Grail, but the children will have to persuade her to give up her secrets before the agents of the Dark get there first. In this class, we will explore all the themes and ideas in the story and consider what it still has to say to us in the 21st century.

Susan Cooper’s classic fantasy series takes us into a world where the forces of the Light battle against those of the Dark, but these are also coming-of-age stories in which children are at the forefront of the conflict. Deeply rooted in the folklore of the British landscape, the narratives are often set in spaces encoded in ancient wisdom and traditions and employ, as Tolkien did in his legendarium, songs and verse that pass on those traditions.

In this book, the first of the series, Cooper introduces us to the folklore of Cornwall, interweaving ancient customs with a modern confrontation against forces of evil. In this class, we will explore all the themes and ideas in the story and consider what it still has to say to us in the 21st century.

Susan Cooper’s classic fantasy series takes us into a world where the forces of the Light battle against those of the Dark, but these are also coming-of-age stories in which children are at the forefront of the conflict. Deeply rooted in the folklore of the British landscape, the narratives are often set in spaces encoded in ancient wisdom and traditions and employ, as Tolkien did in his legendarium, songs and verse that pass on those traditions.

‘Until the Lady comes,’ Merriman said. ‘And she will help you to the finding of the sword of the Pendragon, the crystal sword by which the final magic of the light shall be achieved, and the Dark put at last to flight. And there will be five to help you, for from the beginning it was known that six altogether, and six only, must accomplish this long matter. Six creatures more and less of the earth, aided by the six Signs.’

In this book, the fifth and final of the series, we return to Wales where Will Stanton, the Drew children, and the mysterious Bran must find the Lady who will enable them to complete their quest. All the Arthurian elements that have been evident in the previous four books now come together as the Six of the Light battle back the Dark to save the world. In this class, we will explore all the themes and ideas in the story and consider what it still has to say to us in the 21st century.

Susan Cooper’s classic fantasy series takes us into a world where the forces of the Light battle against those of the Dark, but these are also coming-of-age stories in which children are at the forefront of the conflict. Deeply rooted in the folklore of the British landscape, the narratives are often set in spaces encoded in ancient wisdom and traditions and employ, as Tolkien did in his legendarium, songs and verse that pass on those traditions.

In this book, the second of the series, we are introduced to Will Stanton, who is approaching his 11th birthday. On Midwinter’s Eve, the day before his birthday, there is an atmosphere of fear that pervades the otherwise familiar countryside around him, but is the day itself that will be a birthday like no other. On that day, Will discovers that he has the power of the Old Ones, and that he must embark on a quest to vanquish the terrifyingly evil magic of the Dark. In this class, we will explore all the themes and ideas in the story and consider what it still has to say to us in the 21st century.

Susan Cooper’s classic fantasy series takes us into a world where the forces of the Light battle against those of the Dark, but these are also coming-of-age stories in which children are at the forefront of the conflict. Deeply rooted in the folklore of the British landscape, the narratives are often set in spaces encoded in ancient wisdom and traditions and employ, as Tolkien did in his legendarium, songs and verse that pass on those traditions.

In this book, the fourth of the series, we are back with Will Stanton, who has been dangerously ill and has been sent to his aunt’s farm in Wales to recuperate. During Will’s illness, he has forgotten the details of the quest begun in the previous novels, but as his memories slowly return, he remembers that his next task is to find the golden harp that will awaken six sleepers who will join the final battle between Dark and Light. The villain this time is the Brenin Llwyd, or the ‘Grey King’, an ancient and powerful Lord of the Dark who lives high in the mountains, his breath forming a ragged grey mist that can be seen for miles around. In this class, we will explore all the themes and ideas in the story and consider what it still has to say to us in the 21st century.

When one thinks of ancient, pre-classical civilisations, one thinks of Sumerians, Egyptians, Hittites, and, not least, Minoans. The Minoan civilisation, discovered around 1900 by English archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, has often been styled as the first major European civilisation, equally proficient in technology and the arts, with a sea empire spanning across the Eastern Aegean. But how much of what we imagine about the Minoans is truthful and how much is modern mythmaking?

In this module, we will examine the immense impact which the discovery of Minoan Crete and its integration with the classical myths of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth has had on literature, movies, the arts, and even computer games. We will examine the works of Sir Arthur Evans, Pablo Picasso, Nikos Kazantzakis, Robert Graves, Mary Renault, Poul Anderson, and Stephen King, among others. In so doing, we will explore such key 'Minoan' concepts and phenomena as: the sublime, utopianism, feminism, irrationality and the unconscious, mythmaking, and European identity.

Throughout Tolkien's works, the sense of loss is pervasive, building upon Tolkien's personal belief that to create myth was to engage the cultural awareness of a past "fall." This course will analyze Tolkien's most obvious allusions to a Fall in the legendarium, while looking at literary examples of a "Fall" in society of which Tolkien built upon.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Session 1: "There must be a Fall": Tolkien's idea of story-telling
	Session 2: The Biblical Back Drop
Week 2	Session 3: The Greek Awareness
	Session 4: The Fall of Rome
Week 3	Session 5: The Great War
	Session 6: The Attraction of the North: The Nordic Influence
Week 4	Session 7: Modernity's theft
	Session 8: Life as Teacher: Tolkien's Loss

If you’ve read some of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales , you probably encountered the chivalric grandeur of “The Knight’s Tale,” the irrepressible vitality of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” or the sinister irony of “The Pardoner’s Tale.” But what of the other pilgrims and their tales? This course looks at some of The Canterbury Tales that are less well-known but equally deserving of study: the beauty of the Squire’s unfinished orientalist fairy tale; the rancorous one-upsmanship of the Friar and Summoner’s exchange of tales on clerical abuses, Satanic bargains, and flatulence; or the pilgrims’ run in with an aspiring alchemist, the Canon, and the satirical tale of alchemy gone wrong offered by his servant, the Yeoman. This course will look at these tales and more in their original Middle English spelling.

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

JRR Tolkien is 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. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – 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!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.

Note: Dr. Olsen's first bonus lecture will occur on Sat. Nov 16 at 9:30 AM Eastern. Moreover, it will be unique in that it will be the kick-off to our Fall Space Showcase and accessible for FREE to all showcase participants since our showcases are free events (Showcase Registration is open!). However, if you cannot attend the showcase, no fear! The SPACE team will disseminate the bonus lecture recording to all students enrolled in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien in November 2024.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: The Introduction + Morning · Morning Song
	Discussion 1: The Dale-Lands/ Evening · Completorium/ Wood-Sunshine/ The Sirens Feast · The Sirens/ The Battle of the Eastern Field
Week 2	Lecture 2: The New Lemminkäinen and Lemminkäinen Goeth to the Ford of Oxen
	Discussion 2: A Fragment of an Epic/ The Grimness of the Sea · The Tides · Sea Chant of an Elder Day · Sea-Song of an Elder Day · The Horns of Ylmir/ From Iffley · Valedictory/ Darkness on the Road/ Sunset in a Town
Week 3	Lecture 3: James Tauber Lecture - The Voyage of Éarendel the Evening Star · The Last Voyage of Éarendel · Éala! Éarendel Engla Beorhtast!
	Discussion 3: Outside/ Magna Dei Gloria/ The Story of Kullervo/Dark · Copernicus v. Ptolemy · Copernicus and Ptolemy
Week 4	Lecture 4: Why the Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon: An East Anglian Phantasy · A Faërie: Why the Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon · The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon
	Discussion 4: The Minstrel Renounces the Song · The Lay of Earendel · The Bidding of the Minstrel/ The Mermaid’s Flute/ The Sparrow’s Morning Chirp to a Lazy Mortal · Bilink, Bilink! · Sparrow Song/ As Two Fair Trees

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

JRR Tolkien is 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. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – 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!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: You and Me and the Cottage of Lost Play · The Little House of Lost Play: Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva
	Discussion 1: Courage Speaks to a Child of Earth · The Two Riders/ May Day in a Backward Year · May-Day/ / Princess Nî · The Princess Ní · Princess Mee
Week 2	Lecture 2: Tinfang Warble and Goblin Feet
	Discussion 2: The Happy Mariners · Tha Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners/ Empty Chapel/ Kortirion among the Trees · The Trees of Kortirion
Week 3	Lecture 3: James Tauber Lecture - The Shores of Faery and Kôr: In a City Lost and Dead · The City of the Gods
	Discussion 3: The Pines of Aryador · A Song of Aryador/ The Pool of the Dead Year · The Pool of Forgetfulness/ Dark Are the Clouds about the North/ The Lonely Harebell · Elfalone
Week 4	Lecture 4: The Trumpet of Faery · The Trumpets of Faery · The Horns of the Host of Doriath
	Discussion 4: Narqelion/ Over Old Hills and Far Away/ The Wanderer’s Allegiance · The Sorrowful City · The Town of Dreams and the City of Present Sorrow · Wínsele Wéste, Windge Reste Réte Berofene · The Song of Eriol

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

JRR Tolkien is 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. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – 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!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: Tol Eressea · For England: The Lonely Isle · The Lonely Isle
	Discussion 1: Two-Lieut/ A Dream of Coming Home · A Memory of July in England · July · Two Eves in Tavrobel · An Evening in Tavrobel · Once upon a Time/ The Thatch of Poppies/ The Forest Walker
Week 2	Lecture 2: James Tauber Lecture - Habbanan beneath the Stars · Eruman beneath the Stars and O Lady Mother Throned amid the Stars · Consolatrix Afflictorum · Stella Vespertina · Mother! O Lady Throned beyond the Stars
	Discussion 2: To Early Morning Tea · An Ode Inspired by Intimations of the Approach of Early Morning Tea/ Ye Laggard Woodlands
Week 3	Lecture 3: GBS
	Discussion 3: Companions of the Rose/ The Grey Bridge of Tavrobel/ Build Me a Grave beside the Sea · The Brothers-in-Arms/ I Stood upon an Empty Shore/ A Rime for My Boy
Week 4	Lecture 4: Overview of the Early Poems
	Discussion 4: Nursery Rhymes Undone, or Their Scandalous Secret Unlocked · The Cat and the Fiddle · They Say There’s a Little Crooked Inn · There Is an Inn, a Merry Old Inn · The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late/ A Rhyme Royal upon Easter Morning/ The Ruined Enchanter/ The Motor-cyclists

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!

Module description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):
In this triad of modules we explore Volume 2 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!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: The Introduction + The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin
	Discussion 1: Light as Leaf on Lind · As Light as Leaf on Lindentree ·The Tale of Tinúviel/ Nieninqe · Nieninque
Week 2	Lecture 2: Iúmonna Gold Galdre Bewunden · The Hoard
	Discussion 2: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight/ Enigmata Saxonica Nuper Inventa Duo/ Úþwita Sceal Ealdgesægenum/ Moonshine
Week 3	Lecture 3: James Tauber Lecture - The Golden Dragon · Túrin Son of Húrin and Glórund the Dragon · The Children of Húrin (alliterative) · Winter Comes to Nargothrond
	Discussion 3: The Nameless Land · The Song of Ælfwine/ Ave atque Vale · Lines Composed on an Evening · Lines Composed in a Village Inn/ From One to Five/ Ruddoc Hana/ Ides Ælfscýne/ Bagmē Blōma
Week 4	Lecture 4: Pēro & Pōdex · The Root of the Boot · Sam’s Song · The Stone Troll
	Discussion 4: Éadig Béo Þu/ Ofer Wídne Gársecg/ Frenchmen Froth/ Lit’ and Lang’

Module description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):
In this triad of modules we explore Volume 2 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!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: Pearl (90)
	Discussion 1: All Hail! (86) and The Owl and the Nightingale (89)
Week 2	Lecture 2: Knocking at the Door · The Mewlips (94)
	Discussion 2: Fastitocalon (95)
Week 3	Lecture 3: James Tauber Lecture - The Lay of Leithian
	Discussion 3: The Hills Are Old (100) and Natura Formice (et Significacio Simul)
Week 4	Lecture 4: A Song of Bimble Bay/ The Progress of Bimble · Progress in Bimble Town (102)
	Discussion 4: The Dragon’s Visit

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

In this triad of modules we explore Volume 2 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!

JRR Tolkien is 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. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – 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!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.

Based on the preceptor's edited volume, Tolkien and the Classical World, this module takes students on a tour of the classical influences and ideas on the life, writings, and thought of English fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien, while also introducing seminal Greco-Roman texts to those without any classical background.

This is the Landing Page for preceptor Will Sherwood's Tolkien and the Romantics series. Using the links on this page, you can explore each member of this series by going to its associated module page for more details.

The Gothic genre has inspired many creative minds to explore the darker realms of human psychology and the wider world, sparking fear, terror, horror and repulsion in its audience. J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth is as much a ruined Gothic wasteland as it is an idyllic utopia. From Shelob's cave and the hypnotic Mirkwood to the Paths of the Dead and the Barrow-Downs, this module will examine Tolkien's use of Dark Romantic and Gothic techniques that were used by writers such as Horace Walpole, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and E.T.A. Hoffman to strike terror in the heart of their readers.

The module will follow an 8-lesson structure:

• Lecture 1: The Funk of Forty Thousand Years: A Literary History of the Gothic
• Discussion 1: Chilly Echoes in Tolkien's Middle-earth
• Lecture 2: Bottomless Supernatural: Terror, Horror, Abject
• Discussion 2: Conjuring Creepy Creatures
• Lecture 3: The Weird, the Eerie, and the Dark Side of the Mind
• Discussion 3: Defamiliarising Middle-earth
• Lecture 4: Ruined Landscapes
• Discussion 4: What is left? Can the Gothic recover Middle-earth?

Note: The hybrid 8-lesson structure above is the new format for this module moving forward.

J.R.R. Tolkien famously 'found' his legendarium, translating and editing The Red Book of Westmarch for his twentieth century readers. This is not the first time an author has 'forged' a 'lost' literary history as James Macpherson's 'Ossian' documents from the 1760s started a craze for forgeries. Thomas Chatterton's Rowley and Turgot manuscripts similarly fed off the Ossian controversy while questioning what it really meant to 'forge' a document.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: The 1760s, the Age of Forgery
	Discussion 1: Which Red Book are we reading?
Week 2	Lecture 2: The Growth of Romantic Nationalism
	Discussion 2: The Book of Lost Tales: a mythology for which England?
Week 3	Lecture 3: Oral Traditions: Immortality and Youth
	Discussion 3: Vocalising Myth and History
Week 4	Lecture 4: Textual Traditions: Mortal Anxiety and Tangible History
	Discussion 4: Writing myth and history

The imagination and dreams are essential parts of J.R.R. Tolkien's world building which he explored across many stories from 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'On Fairy-stories' to 'The Notion Club Papers'. The same can be said of the Romantics who saw an important connection between the two. In works such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and 'Kubla Khan', Lord Byron's 'The Dream' and 'Darkness', and Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein', the imaginary and dream-like meet with awe-inspiring, melancholy or blood-chilling results.

Class Outline:

• Class 1: The Realms of (Childhood) Faery (60m)
• Class 2: Faery’s Enchantment (60m)
• Class 3: The Terror of the Night (60m)
• Class 4: The Past is an Imagined Dreamworld (90m)
• Class 5: Visions of the Apocalypse (60m)
• Class 6: Senses and Sensation (60m)
• Class 7: Glimpses, mere Fragments (90m)

J.R.R. Tolkien's revolutionary depictions of nature have inspired many to respect and cherish the environment. However, if we journeyed back two hundred years, we would discover that radical British Romantic authors were also challenging how readers perceived their surroundings! In this module, we will use ecology to explore the many parallels and contrasts between Tolkien's Arda and the Romantic's portrayals of nature big and small: mountains and meadows, woods and wildernesses, daffodils and dead marshes. This will include examining how characters react to the environment, nature's existence as separate from our own, and the broader concern of the Industrial Revolution's destructive potential.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: Visions of Nature
	Discussion 1: What do your Elf-eyes see?
Week 2	Lecture 2: All things Sublime and Beautiful
	Discussion 2: Sublime, Beautiful, or both at once?!
Week 3	Lecture 3: I want to see mountains!
	Discussion 3: One with our environment
Week 4	Lecture 4: Ecology without Humanity
	Discussion 4: What is actually out there beyond the Human sphere?

One of the earliest stories of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium committed to writing was the tragic tale of Túrin Turambar. As Tolkien himself acknowledged, in creating Túrin’s tale, he drew on elements of real-world legends, particularly those of Sigurd the Volsung, Oedipus, and the Finnish Kullervo. In this module, we’ll look at the interplay between these legends (in the forms that young Tolkien had likely encountered them) and Tolkien’s own creation of the tale of Túrin. The module’s objective is twofold: a semi-biographical examination of young Tolkien’s early creative processes, and familiarization with the historical sources for these legends that proved so inspirational for him.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: Introduction to Túrin Turambar and his legendary inspirations (reading: “Turambar and the Foalókë”).
	Discussion 1: Comments on and questions about Túrin Turambar and his legendary inspirations (reading: “Turambar and the Foalókë”).
Week 2	Lecture 2: Oedipus & Túrin (reading: excerpts Sophocles, ed. Jebb, “The Oedipus Tyrannus”).
	Discussion 2: Comments on and questions about Oedipus & Túrin (reading: excerpts Sophocles, ed. Jebb, “The Oedipus Tyrannus”).
Week 3	Lecture 3: Sigurd & Túrin (reading: excerpts from “The Story of Sigurd”, ed. Lang; excerpts from “Völsunga saga”, trans. Eiríkur Magnusson & Morris).
	Discussion 3: Sigurd & Túrin (reading: excerpts from “The Story of Sigurd”, ed. Lang; excerpts from “Völsunga saga”, trans. Eiríkur Magnusson & Morris).
Week 4	Lecture 4: Kullervo & Túrin (reading: excerpts from “Kalevala”, ed. Kirby; excerpts from Tolkien, “The Story of Kullervo”).
	Discussion 4: Kullervo & Túrin (reading: excerpts from “Kalevala”, ed. Kirby; Tolkien, “The Story of Kullervo”).

While Shakespeare is famous for his plays, he also wrote more than 150 sonnets, which display his wit, his charm, his insight, and his unparalleled talent for turning a phrase and playing into double-entendres. Join us as we scan and analyze the whole compendium of Shakespeare's sonnets from beginning to end, exploring the nuances of each individual poem as well as the wide sweep of personal love and loss in his own life explained between the pages of Shakespeare's poetry.

To give each of the sonnets their due, this will be a non-sequential series in which each month, we will cover some of the sonnets, their structure, history and inspiration behind them. No previous knowledge of sonnets is required.

Note: Each module in the series will enrich the understanding of the overall sonnet project, but students will be able to enter into any of the modules of this series independent of each other without needing the context of the previous class.

Something dangerous is lurking on the periphery of polite Edwardian society. Master of dark social comedy H. H. Munro (pen name “Saki”) offers a world populated by duchesses, vicars, and idle London playboys—but also escaped hyaenas, talking cats, werewolves, and malevolent pageant gods. When these wild, menacing forces intrude into a world of decorous familiarity and boredom, the results are shockingly funny (or sometimes just shocking). This course will examine a selection of Saki’s short fiction, along with a brief look at his biography and historical context. Marked by a combination of acid wit, sudden terrible reversals, and a knack for precisely conveying the unmentionable, Saki’s stories are essential reading for anyone interested in the gothic tale, the comic anecdote, or the craft of short fiction writing.