Tolkien class explores political, ethical themes

To all the hardcore “The Lord of the Rings” fans at GC&SU or just students interested in exploring political and ethical themes in a new light, the Power, Politics and Tolkien class is being taught again in the spring by Government and Sociology Professor Hank Edmondson.

“The Lord of the Rings” fan Misha Tenenbaum, a mass communication major, took the Tolkien class last year.

“The class is really fun, rewarding and surprisingly up-to-date. It goes to the core of a liberal arts education,” said Tenenbaum.

Edmondson has not always been a “The Lord of the Rings” fan.

The idea for the class began in Tolkein’s hometown of Oxford, England, where Edmondson was giving a lecture. There he stumbled upon Stratford Caldecott, a leading Tolkien scholar. The two had tea together, and Edmondson began to see the political significance in “Lord of the Rings.”

“Tolkien was ahead of his time. He wrote the books to keep western civilization going. Ordinary people are the key to the survival of western civilization,” Edmonson said.

The books reflect ethical and political themes.

Specifically, the three main political and ethical themes represented in “The Lord of the Rings” that still affect the world today are environmentalism, the survival of western civilization and that power corrupts, said Edmonson.

According to the course syllabus, “Students should register for this course only if they are prepared for hard work. No amounts of wizardry will substitute for shire-like diligence as responsibilities will include weekly essays, a mid-term, a comprehensive essay final and a research paper.”

Junior political science major Amanda van Dalen isn’t sure what to expect from the Tolkien course, but she signed up to take the class spring semester because “it sounds interesting.”

Since the Tolkien course is considered a special topics course and didn’t have to run the gauntlet to get full formal approval, Edmondson claims that it wasn’t difficult to get approval for the class.

Edmondson believes that it is important to have such classes as the Tolkien course on a liberal arts campus.

“It encourages serious reading and the understanding of political principles,” Edmonson said.

Sam Gamgee is Edmondson’s favorite character.

“Sam combines simplicity and nobility and shows how important it is to be ordinary,” Edmonson said.

Tenenbaum agrees with Edmondson.

“Sam’s got guts,” Tenenbaum said.

As of Monday, there were only three spots left in the Power, Politics and Tolkien course, which will be offered on Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Tenenbaum encourages everyone to take the course. “It takes the edge off school,” he said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 18 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry