Katrelya sent us this link to the magazine Christian History [More] “Explore the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, as a Christian author in a modern time and place, shadowed by war; how his work is a response to the condition of his times. Learn how Tolkien developed creatively through his interaction with his children, often his only audience at times. Imagine first hearing The Hobbit as a father’s bedtime story!”
If you live in Ontario, you can do this amazing course that Janet told us about: There is a Master’s level English course on Tolkien and Jackson being taught at the University of Waterloo in Ontario this fall:
“ENGL 795 – Jackson’s Tolkien: Choices Made in Adapting Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings from book trilogy to movie trilogy Instructor: Dr. Neil Randall This course examines Peter Jackson’s recent film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The purpose of the course is to explore the decisions made by Jackson in adapting the film to the screen, analyzing those decisions (under the auspices of theories of semiotics and social semiotics) to determine the differences caused by the changes. Two of the films – The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002)-will be available for class viewing throughout the course, and we will examine each scene by scene in conjunction with both the published novel(s) and some of the supplementary material surrounding the novel, as published by Christopher Tolkien after his father’s death. Our analyses will allow us to speculate on the nature of the adaptation of the third novel, The Return of the King, which will be released in December of 2003.
“You will be required to read the entirety of Tolkien’s trilogy, including all introductory material and all appendices. In addition, you will read selections from Tolkien’s other work, including The Silmarillion, The Book of Lost Tales, and the four-volume History of the Lord of the Rings (which shows the writing of the trilogy from its first drafts). Viewing assignments will include Ralph Bakshi’s animated film The Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1991 BBC radio adaptation of the trilogy (okay, this is actually a listening assignment, not a viewing one), as well as all three Jackson films. Please note that the third movie in the Jackson series is indeed part of the course – its viewing and the assignment due the next day will constitute the final exam for the course – unless we have no way of doing so before the end of the Fall 2003 exam period. I will be trying to arrange a special advance viewing through Alliance Atlantis, the Canadian distributors of the film, in case the official release date occurs after this date.”
