Raise your hand if:
- Your copies of The Lord of the Rings trilogy are falling apart
- You wanted to be Eowyn more than anything. Or Arwen. Or Aragorn
- A trip to New Zealand to see the set is on your bucket list
- You would murder someone to spend a week in Rivendell
- The Shire is your personal vision of heaven
- You suspect that Tokien’s work is CHOCK FULL OF FOLKLORE and would like to hear more about how that works and why it matters, for The Lord of the Rings and for fantasy stories in general
If you raised your hand for any of these, we hope you’ll join us for...
Yep, it's our nerdiest course ever,
and we are going ALL IN.
Here's What's Included:
Lecture #1: Folklore and The Lord of the Rings
Our first talk will explore the folklore woven throughout The Lord of the Rings. We’ll discuss elves, orcs, riddle games, trolls, and more. We’ll also do a deep dive into his views on fantasy and fairy tales more generally, particularly his ideas about the departure of the elves. Lastly, we'll look at how Tolkien’s work influenced folklore and culture broadly (particularly how his work shaped cultural phenomena like DnD) and forever impacted how we think about this material.
Live on June 12th at 7PM ET
(Will be recorded!)
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Lecture #2: Monsters of Middle Earth
Our second lecture is all about the monsters of LOTR - from Smaug the dragon, to Shelob the spider, to the Orcs. What is a monster? What is the function of monsters in the trilogy (especially when you have big bads who are human or human-ish already)? How do issues of racism, sexism, fatphobia, degeneration, classism, and more influence what we think of as “monstrous,” and how does Tolkien’s world reinforce (or challenge) those ideas?
Live on June 26th at 7PM ET
(Will be recorded!)
3 Live Movies Nights
(A Private Discord Chat!)
Alas, we cannot invite you all into our living rooms, BUT we are bringing back the extremely popular movie night from our Dark Academia course. We’ll host a live chat discussion on Discord as we all hit “play” together and watch the films.
June 15th, 22nd, and 29th at 5PM ET
Please note:
You will need to purchase, rent, or stream the films yourself.
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Teachable Discussion Community
A dedicated discussion space on Teachable (not Facebook!) to talk about the lectures, books, and films, and to just generally revel.
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Discussion Questions
We’ll post discussion questions about the materials on Teachable, where you can share your answers and see what others have written.
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Optional Readings
You don't have to read or have already read the entirety of The Lord of the Rings trilogy to enjoy this class, but we do of course recommend it (and, hey, if you've never read them before, this is the perfect time to give them a shot!) We welcome casual/movie fans, those who are just curious, AND die-hard fans who have read The Silmarillion five times. We are, however, going to link to some optional readings that will enhance your understanding of the lectures. These readings are 100% not required, but fun if you want them!
And...
BONUS:
An Inklings-Inspired
Creative Writing Workshop!
One of the best things about LOTR is how inspirational it can be. Its influence changed the genre of fantasy forever after, creating a whole lineage and tradition of stories that followed in its footsteps. Want to be a part of the tradition? In this low-stakes, very low-pressure creative workshop, we’ll show you some starting points within LOTR for your own writing process. We’ll also take some inspiration from the Inklings (a kind of book club/ writing group that Tolkien was a part of) to create some writing as a group!
Live on June 19th at 7PM ET
(Will be recorded!)
Special Note:
You don't have to read or have already read the entirety of The Lord of the Rings trilogy to enjoy this class, but we do of course recommend it (and, hey, if you've never read them before, this is the perfect time to give them a shot!)
Wait... Who Are You Two Anyway?
Hi! We're Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman. We're award-winning folklorists, teachers, writers, and BFFs with a combined 26 years in higher education and over 150 publications (yes, really!) Together, we founded The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, where we teach creative souls how to re-enchant their lives through folklore and fairy tales.
We've delivered sold-out lectures at venues like the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the Profs & Pints series, the Maryland Renaissance Festival, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, and FaerieCon and - in 2019 - Carterhaugh won the Dorothy Howard Award from the American Folklore Society!
We love teaching. Our classes reflect the joy we get out of the strange and delightful world of folklore, so expect lots of gifs and terrible puns in our lectures. We'll occasionally make horrible faces at each other and laugh like drunken pixies… and we want you to join us!
If you’re wondering why we’re qualified to be running this program, behold, our credentials:
- A PhD in English and Folklore apiece
- Sara’s copy of The Hobbit is held together with Scotch tape and her original copies of the trilogy are so battered, she had to buy new ones
- Brittany TAed for the brilliant Dr. Merrill Kaplan’s Tolkien-themed course at OSU
- Sara had a picture of Orlando Bloom’s Legolas taped in her locker in Jr. High (she was very cool) and she’s not sorry about it
- Brittany has 4 different editions of LOTR for scholarly comparison
- We’ve both read SO MUCH additional Tolkien and surrounding scholarship
- We have drunk heavily at the Eagle and Child in Oxford (the pub the Inklings frequented!)
See? Resumes to be proud of.
In all seriousness, what we’re trying to say is that we have legit Tolkien-and-folklore scholarly chops, and we are huge fans. We love LOTR. We love studying and thinking about LOTR and folklore. If you want to learn more about that connection, and you want to geek out with other Tolkien fans - or dip your toes into The Lord of the Rings for the first time - we hope you’ll join The Fellowship!
We have some pretty glowing testimonials too!
FAQ
"I've never read The Lord of the Rings, can I still join? Should I still join?"
You don't have to read or have already read the entirety of The Lord of the Rings trilogy to enjoy this class, but we do of course recommend it (and, hey, if you've never read them before, this is the perfect time to give them a shot!) We welcome casual/movie fans, those who are just curious, AND die-hard fans who have read The Silmarillion five times. We are, however, going to link to some optional readings that will enhance your understanding of the lectures. These readings are 100% not required, but fun if you want them!
"How do the movie nights work?"
Let's be real - the LOTR movies are epic. And they were the gateway for a lot of people into the books, which is pretty cool! We adore them. Let's watch them. On three Saturdays - June 15th, 22nd, and 29th at 5PM ET - we're going to gather on our private Discord server and watch the films together. We promise lots of snarky commentary, thoughtful insights, and FUN watching with fellow fans! Our students have loved these group watches in the past, and we're so excited to do it for this course! You will have to secure your own copies of the films (we know many of you already own them, but they're also currently streaming on HBO, and you can rent them all over the place as well.) We'll all press play at the same time and go from there!
NOTE: We will be recommending everyone watch the standard editions of the films for simplicity's sake - you can of course watch the extended editions if you want to, but you'll fall out of sync with the rest of the group if you watch those during our time together.
"Um, what exactly IS Carterhaugh?"
The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic is an award-winning online school dedicated to classes on fairy tales, folklore, and all things fantastic. It was created by Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman in 2016 as a place for those who dreamed of elven battles while studying economics, those who have always sworn they could see ghosts, and those who longed for a school of magic to send them an unexpected acceptance letter. We aim to use our knowledge and passion for these subjects to share their wonder, solidify their importance in society, and spread a bit of magic into the world. Want to know more? Check out our "About" page by clicking here!
“I’m just a folklore fan. I don’t want to ruin my enjoyment with a bunch of academic stuff.”
We didn't become folklorists to ruin stuff - we did it because we LOVE folklore and literature, and we genuinely love Tolkien. However, loving stuff doesn't mean that said stuff doesn't have issues, and it is our firm belief that you can love and celebrate something AND think about it critically. Accordingly, we will have serious discussions in this course that will touch on topics like antisemitism, racism, fatphobia, and more.
“How involved are you guys? Is this just a thing where I get access to a bunch of stuff and then good luck?”
NOPE! We are 100% involved in our courses from start to finish. Our students always rave about how accessible we are, how quickly we respond, and how we make everyone feel welcome in our school. We're available via e-mail anytime you need help with anything (or just want to share an insight privately with us!)
As always, if you have additional questions at any time,
don't hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected]
We're going back to our fantasy roots,
and you're not going to want to miss it!
If you have questions,
feel free to reach out to us at
[email protected]
