Barnes & Noble Free Course The Lord of the Rings

http://educate.barnesandnobleuniversity.com/educate/bn/home/catalog/overview.jsp?productId=6267 ^

[Overtaxed]

Title: The Lord of the Rings Course Type: Online Instructor-led Course Estimated Completion Time: 24 hour(s) Session Length: 4 week(s)

Take this course for FREE

Upcoming Sessions September 11, 2002 - OPEN

Prerequisites Have read or have a desire to read The Hobbit and the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings

Description This course provides an overview of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. We'll look first at Tolkien's biography, his writing life, the origins of the stories, and their publication history. We'll continue with lessons on each book, concentrating on Tolkien's construction of a mythological world and its peoples and languages, his characters and their development, and his thematic concerns. Finally, we'll look at Tolkien's lasting influence on 20th-century fantasy literature, as well as on cultural movements such as neo-paganism and environmentalism.

Objectives Read J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy and follow the adventures of Bilbo, Frodo, and their friends in a war against evil See how Tolkien's background as a professor of languages at Oxford influenced his construction of a complete mythology of Middle Earth Explore Tolkien's influence, not only on 20th-century fantasy literature, but also on the development of neo-pagan religions and environmental activism.

Course Materials The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Boxed Set

Course Creator(s) Leslie Ellen Jones Leslie Ellen Jones earned a Ph.D. in Folklore and Mythology Studies at UCLA, and has taught at UCLA and Harvard. She is the author of Druid Shaman Priest: Metaphors of Celtic Paganism, and currently works in academic publishing.

[Overtaxed]

Thought you might be interested.

[Overtaxed]

Ping!

[GretchenEE]

wowza yowza! I will check into it. Thanks for the ping.

[HairOfTheDog]

Sounds neat! - We should do a Book study too! - We could call it the Green Dragon inn.... and.... oh yeah... I am already supposed to be doing that!

sorry folk for letting it go lately... I have excuses, lots of them....

[maquiladora]

Hey, that sounds like fun.

[Overtaxed]

...and it's FREE!

[Sam Cree]

Are you going? I wonder what she makes of the Celtic influence, which I think is not very strong in LOTR.

[Overtaxed]

See how Tolkien's background as a professor of languages at Oxford influenced his construction of a complete mythology of Middle Earth Explore Tolkien's influence, not only on 20th-century fantasy literature, but also on the development of neo-pagan religions and environmental activism

I'd like to hear about his background and Im' curious as to what she has to say about the neo-pagan/environmental activism. I have access to The Letters as an extra reference if needed

[Overtaxed]

Uhhh "I'm"....misplaced apostrophe syndrome.

[Overtaxed]

Is anyone familiar with these B&N courses? Is there much discussion involved?

[Sam Cree]

Hopefully, they won't try to enlist JRRT into the "environmental" movement, which, IMO, is not really an environmental, but a leftist, movement. JRRT loved nature, but clearly disliked the Left.

I distrust anyone from UCLA, but if they love Tolkien, then I can hope for the best, and with a little luck, I am dead wrong.

[kcar]

I fear that Tolkien revisionism is inevitable the more popular and time-tested it becomes. But Tolkien was clearly in favor of fighting the good fight with honesty, courage, and loyalty to yours friends and your own people. Alas, his characters may have engaged in racial profiling and specie-ism. But then he was from an earlier age where using common sense and fighting to win were important.

[brat]

I'm still mad at them for reading "Heather Has Two Mommies" to 3 year olds. I havn't set foot in one since.

[LinnieBeth]

Thanks OT, I'm off to look into it?

[LinnieBeth]

....Two Mommies" to 3 year olds. I havn't set foot in one since.

Ditto! but this is from your PC. Though I don't really expect them to "get" the Christian influence; much less the Spirit-filled Christian experience.

[Overtaxed]

I've been feeling a bit Tookish lately. I figure if we get enough of us to go, we can freep her at her own book discussion.....hehehe.

[Pippin]

Sounds like it would be interesting. BTW: I'm currently reading the triology over again for about the fifth or sixth time (I really lost count) in twenty years, Will that help me?

[GretchenEE]

I signed up for this and the woman who is on the front page of the web site is apparently the one who originated the idea but not the teacher -- at least not of the class I signed up for. Here's the data they offer for the instructor.

Session Instructor(s):
Dana Paxson
Dana Paxson graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in Design, majoring in painting and sculpture. His art work has appeared in shows and fairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Rochester, New York. Dana is also an established professional writer of science fiction and fantasy, with four published stories in the nationally-distributed magazine Science Fiction Age. He has been writing long and short fiction since 1992. His nonliterary professions are systems engineering, high-tech intellectual property analysis, and modern art. He practices as an artist when time permits, and teaches modern-art appreciation.

And here's the final lesson outline, for those wondering about the environmentalist issues:

LESSON 12
Tolkien's Legacy: Films, Paganism, and Environmentalism
The Hero with a Thousand Scripts
Nature Religions and Environmental Activism

However, the other lessons look promising. Here's the link to read the Lesson Outlines.

[HairOfTheDog]

Let us all know what the class is like Gretchen! - I think it looks like fun. I don't think I will be doing it this time, no time!



And by the way... loving the environment is not a bad thing. IMHO, We have to stop flinching at the word as is if environmentalism is intrinsically bad. It isn't. Some of their methods are just wrong. We all like beautiful places, we just need to find better ways to limit our impact than the ideas the left is selling.