Hello Muggle! Hello Fadder!
Kids in Shreveport, LA, Canadaigua, NY and the Penn State area can find summer fun at camps inspired by the Harry Potter books, Newsweek magazine reports. Thanks to Penny from the Lexicon for the tip!
Also, in the last few hours, we've had some tips about other magic-themed camps, including the California Science Center'sContinued...
A Liberal Arts Journal Focuses on Potter
Issue number 54 of the liberal arts journal Topic: The Washington and Jefferson College Review focuses on Harry Potter, and is available for order online. The issue includes such essays as "Disillusionment in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", by Donna C. Woodford; "Fantasy and theContinued...
2004: The Year in HP: A Leaky Cauldron Review
Happy New Year everyone! Because 2005 is going to be such a big year for Harry
Potter fans, we thought now was a good time to look back at 2004, which
wasn't too shabby either where we're concerned. Editor Sue scoured our archives
and found all our 2004 highlights, so we hope you enjoy this littleContinued...
Student Refuses to Answer Potter Question
A South African student refused to answer an English exam question about Harry Potter because he believes the books promote witchcraft.
The mother of eighteen year old student John Smit told Reuters "He wouldn't answer it because it supports witchcraft, and we're against witchcraft ... theContinued...
Harry Potter Lecture, Notre Dame
Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago's Divinity School, will deliver a lecture, "St. Augustine, Harry Potter and the Confrontation with Evil", at 4 p.m. Nov. 3 (Wednesday) in the McKenna Hall auditorium at the UniversityContinued...
Harry Potter the New Prozac?
Harry Potter is "new Prozac", and can help in the fight against teen depression and suicide. This premise was the focus of a paper presented at a HP Conference at Flinders University in Australia. " It highlights how the third book in the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, makes understandingContinued...
Update: Australian Harry Potter Conference
The Australian Harry Potter conference that we told you about back in August will now be held on April 15-16 at Flinders University. Thanks Tim!
Report from Melbourne Lecture
Shaun Hatley attended the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dean's Lecture entitled "'Harry Potter': Implications for Child and Adolescent Health on March 22, and filed a report with us at TLC. Professor Glenn Bowes, the Stevenson Professor and Head ofContinued...
Followup: Kristen and the Georgetown U. Graduate Thesis
We previously posted a story about Kristen and her survey on Harry Potter she was conducting for her thesis at Georgetown University. Kristen has now posted her results at areyouamuggle.com. They include information about where the returned surveys came from, which relationships are likelyContinued...
Poor Schools' Libraries Not Updated
Today's New York Times reports on school libraries that time forgot, and mentions Edward Williams Elementary School, whose library has no Harry Potter books.
Children come in asking for Harry Potter, but there is no Harry Potter here.
Kristen and the Georgetown U. Graduate Thesis
While we typically don't post links to personal sites or surveys, we enjoyed this idea too much to pass it up (plus editor Melissa is a Georgetown grad, so we admit some Hoya Saxa is involved). Kristen is using Harry Potter as the topic of her graduate thesis, and has asked fellow enthusiasts toContinued...
Educated Fandom
Henry Jenkins at Technology Review has written a fascinating and very positive article about the educational merit of Harry Potter fan community publications like The Daily Prophet and fan fiction sites such as Fiction Alley and The Sugar Quill. Quote: "Many young fan writers aspire to professional writing careers; many areContinued...
Home Reading Initiative
The Evening Times reports on the Scottish home reading initiative, Read Together, which is backed by several celebrities including JK Rowling. Said Peter Peacock, education minister: "This is the time of year when people traditionally think about making New Year's resolutions. It's also the perfect time toContinued...
Harry at College
Maryland's Frostburg State U. joins the ranks of colleges offering a course on Harry.
Thanks to the many TLC readers who sent us this link!
Muggles Study Magic
The Washington Post Express reports that Frostburg State University is now offering an honors course based on the book The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works by Roger Highfield. The course will investigate the ways in which technology can approximate magic, and will culminate in a written and oral scientific presentationContinued...