Teaching With Magic

Kristine Riley is a PhD candidate in the sociology program at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her studies focus on critical criminology, feminist theory, social justice, public policy, and popular culture. Her dissertation, currently titled “Breaking Glass, Making Prison: How carceral feminism shapes the prison nation,” examines the gendered political economy of the criminal legal system in the contempo...

The recent release of Ahsoka in live-action has been a delight to fans of The Clone Wars series, the Prequel films, and Star Wars: Rebels . But, while this show has captivated audiences everywhere, it has also emphasized a gradual change in a beloved character. The episode "Shadow Warrior" was an emotional flashback to Ahsoka's participation in the Clone Wars, and the live-action fil...

For Witch and Wizard School Stories, visit https://tinyurl.com/H5B-hpalt For resources on reading Harry Potter after 2020, visit https://hpafter2020.com/ Today's guest is Dr. Katy McDaniel, co-host of Potterversity: A Potter Studies Podcast. Katy is an Andrew U. Thomas Professor of History at Marietta College in Marietta Ohio. While she specializes in early modern British history, she teaches...

Happy Holidays from Teaching with Magic! The holidays are here, and there are some days when the students (and teachers!) want to just kick back and watch a movie. If you're watching a film adaptation of the class novel, then this episode will help you consider the language of adaptation theory and ways that you can inspire your students to think creatively about the text, critique and analyze ada...

Today's guest is Dr. Stentor Danielson of Slippery Rock University. Stentor specializes in Cultural Geography, Environmental Ethics and Justice, and Wildfire Management. Their research interests often merge their love of cultural geography and J.R.R. Tolkien, with peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Tolkien Research and some new publications on the way !    

Hello and welcome back to another episode and a new "Teaching With Magic" season! Our first guest is the incredible Dr. Kristine Larsen, astronomy and physics professor and pop culture extraordinaire. Kristine teaches courses at Central Connecticut State University. She is heavily involved in science outreach and serves on the Board of Advisors and as co-leader of the Solar Observing Section of th...

Hello all, and THANK YOU for your unwavering support of the Teaching With Magic Project! I am so pleased to introduce the season one finale, a panel discussion with several friends of the Podcast who share their perspectives on the current state of teaching. We talk about the joys and the hardships of teaching and teaching fantasy, and we talk about some of the images and tropes that have contribu...

Today's episode is all about podcasting! How do podcasting and audio make learning accessible? What do podcasts, streaming, and J.R.R. Tolkien have in common? Learn the answers to these questions and more as Teaching with Magic discusses the beginnings of Signum University, the Mythgard Institute, and the Tolkien Professor with Signum University President Dr. Corey Olsen! Dr. Corey Olsen is th...

It's a New Year, which means that we have some new updates! This episode is an announcement and a call to action- we have lots of fun projects ahead of us, but we need your help to achieve them! First: The Teaching With Magic Discord is open to listeners . To join, click this link . If it expires, send us an email at contact@teachingwithmagic.blog for a new link! Second: We need your help! The...

Meet Teacher with Magic Dr. Lana Whited! Lana edited the first collection of essays on the Harry Potter series, The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter (Missouri, 2002), as well as Critical Insights series volumes on the Harry Potter novels (2015, with M. Katherine Grimes) and the Hunger Games trilogy (2016). Dr. Whited is the director of the Boone Honors Program and professor of English at Ferrum Colleg...

Beowulf has been on the shelves and graced many a high school and university English syllabus... but why is it taught, and why should we continue to teach it? This episode features Dr. Larry Swain, coeditor of the upcoming "Teaching Beowulf: Practical Approaches" from Medieval Institute Publications. As any true teacher would, Larry turned the questions and concerns that his students raised and tu...

This episode is the quick and dirty minilesson on the Science of Reading, the Science of Reading Movement, and how it relates to fantasy and Tolkien studies. What do brain science, biology, and Gandalf all have in common? Find out on this episode!

Welcome to a very special episode! Here, you'll learn all about learning with language invention. How can we use a cultural love of words, language, and fandom to help our students enjoy learning to read and reading to learn? Our special guest is Dr. Andrew Higgins, a Tolkien Scholar who received his Ph. D. through Cardiff Metropolitan University on 'The Genesis of Tolkien's Mythology&...

Emily Strand comes back to talk about Obi Wan Kenobi! In this episode, Emily and I chatted about the fundamentals of the Jedi Order, the Clone Wars, and the ways that Obi-Wan Kenobi's teaching has changed throughout the cycles of Star Wars stories.  We do have one note of correction- When we get to the question of the lightsaber training session between Obi-Wan and Anakin in Episode 5 of Obi-Wan K...

This episode's Teacher With Magic is Dr. Luke Shelton! We how magical reading can be for kids as we dive into reception theory, teaching philosophies, and the Lord of the Rings. Dr. Luke Shelton holds a Ph. D. from the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic. His dissertation, “Small Hands Do Them Because They Must” focuses on the reception of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of...

Today’s magical guest is Jordan Rannells, the technical editor for the Prancing Pony Podcast and the brains behind A Long Expected Soundscape. Jordan’s wizardry with soundscapes provides an immersive audio experience to listen to alongside the Lord of the Rings books. He’s also produced a podcast called The Music of Middle Earth in which he analyzed Howard Shore’s score to the Peter Jackson Lord o...

We're flying off into the Star Wars Universe in today's episode: all about Qui-Gon Jinn, the Jedi Master we all know and love. What qualities, attitudes, and actions make Qui-Gon the cool teacher-I mean Jedi Master- that every Padawan wants? How does the Master/Apprentice relationship work in Star Wars, and what can we teachers on Earth learn from Qui-Gon and emulate in our own classrooms?...

In this episode, the hosts of the Potterversity podcast, Dr. Katy McDaniel and Emily Strand, join the Teaching With Magic podcast to talk about their own teaching, their favorite fantasy and science fiction texts, and their experiences while exploring the Harry Potter series as aca-fans. Potterversity is a Potter Studies Podcast that explores the Harry Potter series and the wider wizarding world f...

What makes Gandalf a good teacher? In this episode, I use narrative inquiry to take a look at Gandalf's key speeches and actions throughout the text that demonstrate what it means to be a quality teacher.

Welcome to our first Interview Episode! In Teaching With Magic , we're all about learning from other teachers, both in the Primary and Secondary world! I'm joined by Rebecca Davis, more commonly known in the Tolkien Community as BarliBecca, Queen of Puns. In addition to serving as Barliman for the Prancing Pony Podcast, Rebecca is a first year writing instructor at Murray State College in...

Welcome to the Teaching With Magic Podcast! This episode is all about what you can expect from the Teaching With Magic Podcast, and to welcome you to the community. It's sure to be a fun time for us all. Are you a teacher who enjoys teaching and using fantasy texts in the classroom? Then this is the podcast for you. You'll hear interviews with other teachers, analyses of mentor teachers in...