Harry Potter and the Kingkiller Chronicle

Professor's Corner: Harry Potter and the Kingkiller Chronicle / Wed., Feb. 12, 7:00 pm / Presenter: Dr. Gray Scott / Denton Public Library--South Branch. Session title: The Learner's Journey: What Wizard Academies in Harry Potter and the Kingkiller Chronicle Can Teach Us about How Students Learn. Presenter: Dr. Gray Scott is an assistant professor in the English, Speech, and Foreign Languages department at Texas Woman's University. He is primarily interested in the teaching of writing, but he takes occasional side-treks into authorship attribution, assessment, and science-fiction/fantasy literature. Date and location: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Denton South Branch Library. Series: Professor's Corner: A Literary Discussion Group. Session description: Both J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter ) and Patrick Rothfuss (Kingkiller Chronicle) are former English teachers with recent blockbuster fantasy series involving young wizards at schools of magic. Although Rowling and Rothfuss seem to idealize very different kinds of teachers and students, in both stories successful learning seems to follow the same pattern, one that echoes in some ways the famous "hero's journey" described by Joseph Campbell. Are there lessons we can learn from these schools of magic about how to educate the young? Background on presenter: Dr. Scott is Assistant Professor of English in the English, Speech, and Foreign Languages department at Texas Woman's University. He is primarily interested in the teaching of writing, but he takes occasional side-treks into authorship attribution, assessment, and science-fiction/fantasy literature. He has presented previously at Professor's Corner. Cost: This program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Reading material: Reading material for this session is available at the URL provided above. Some versions of this e-mail will also have it as an attachment. Reading in advance of the session is encouraged but not necessary. The series: The purpose of this free series is to meet a public need for high quality presentations on literary topics by having local English professors talk about their special interests. The presentations are aimed at the general public and allow for discussion. Readings of modest length are usually available in advance. Gatherings are usually on the second Wednesday of specified months from 7:00 p.m. to about 8:30 p.m. Monthly announcements are available by e-mail; to get on the mailing list, send a request by e-mail to the coordinator. Coordinator: Fred Kamman, Denton Public Library; Fred.Kamman@cityofdenton.com; 940-349-8752. Producer: Dr. Stephen Souris, Texas Woman's University; SSouris@twu.edu; 940-898-2343. Location of the South Branch Library: 3228 Teasley, Denton, TX 76210. The South Branch Library is just south of the Teasley & Lillian Miller intersection. Supporters: Denton Public Library, Voertman's Bookstore, Recycled Books Records CDs, Cooper's Copies and Printing, and Humanities Texas. "This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities."