Fan Worlds Are Colliding!

"Star Wars" fan and "Harry Potter" scholar Emily Strand (Instructor in Comparative Religions at Mount Carmel College of Nursing) joins Katy and John to talk about the connections between these two popular series.

Whether or not you think it’s canon, seeing the play The Cursed Child offers a unique Harry Potter experience. Readers of the script were often disappointed, but those who attend the play rave about it. Are you curious about how Harry Potter aficionados respond to seeing the play?

What happens when a student-journalist meets a famous author? Ten years ago, journalism student Adeel Amini spontaneously asked J.K. Rowling for an interview for the University of Edinburgh newspaper. Having spotted her in a coffee shop in 2008, he successfully landed the interview and produced a unique character study of our favorite author in the wake of Book 7’s publication.

Readers love the Harry Potter series, but is it a classic? Hosts Katy and John discuss Harry Potter’s relationship to the Academy and the importance of readers with special guest Dr. Cecilia Konchar Farr, author of The Ulysses Delusion and editor of A Writer of Their Age.

In this episode, Katy and John talk with Associate Professor of Literature Dr. Beth Sutton-Ramspeck (The Ohio State University in Lima) about Rowling's "literary housekeeping" in the "Harry Potter" series. Bringing her knowledge of Victorian literature to her analysis of "Harry Potter," Sutton-Ramspeck explores the complex array of attitudes toward filth, innovation, artistry, and the unforgivable in the wizarding world.

Come along with cohosts Katy and John, along with special guest Brett Kendall to explore the structure and meaning of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film.

Where can Harry Potter scholars and fans meet and share ideas, and where can fans be scholars and scholars be fans? The Harry Potter Conference at Chestnut Hill College, in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.