Houston Rice University offers Continuing Ed Tolkien class

[Michael Martinez]

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien are invited to take a continuing education course taught by Tolkien scholar Dr. Jane Chance.

"Behind the Film: The Mythology of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth" is an evening class being offered at Houston's Rice University this Fall. The class will be taught by noted medievalist and Tolkien scholar Dr. Jane Chance. The class runs from September 24 through November 5. There will be sessions over six Tuesdays plus one Wednesday (October 2). Hours are 7:30 to 9:00 PM.

The course fee is $125 per registration with a discount price of $115 for multiple registrations. Fees should be confirmed with the university.

Dr. Chance, who is Professor of English and Medieval Studies, will cover topics such as "Ethnic diversity and Imperial Arrogance: J.R.R. Tolkien and Postcolonial Issues", "A chance meeting, as we say in Middle-earth", and others.

A full course description is available at the Rice University Web site.

The box office and Academy Award success of Peter Jackson’s
$400-million film, The Fellowship of the Ring, and the prospect
of a new movie this year has sparked renewed interest in J.R.R.
Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In his epic mythology of
Middle-earth, Tolkien populates an entire world with many
different races speaking at least 14 invented languages. But
what is behind Tolkien’s characters and popular stories? This
course will present different approaches to Tolkien’s
mythology--multicultural, theological, literary, medieval,
autobiographical, technological, and cinematic--to facilitate
an understanding of his complex cultural anthropology.