From time to time, I am able to record one of my college courses or a special online seminar series. On those delightful occasions, I gather the recorded class sessions and post links to them on the pages below.
Faerie and Fantasy (Washington College, Spring 2011)
A new course which pursues Tolkien’s claims in his seminal essay “On Fairy-Stories” by examining the development of fairy stories from the Middle-English fairy tradition down to its descendants in 19th-century fairy tales and the 20th-century fantasy genre.
The Silmarillion Seminar (Online, December 2010 – Spring 2011)
An online audio discussion of The Silmarillion, proceeding through the book at the pace of about a chapter a week.
Undergraduate Tolkien Survey (Washington College, Spring 2010)
A quick but reasonably thorough survey of Tolkien’s works, beginning with some of his more minor writings (“On Fairy-Stories,” “Mythopoeia,” “Leaf by Niggle,” and “Smith of Wootton Major”) and then proceeding to his major works (The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings).
Heard