Marilyn Thipthorpe
In an unabashed attempt to lure Pottermaniacs to its English department, the University of Waterloo has developed an entire course dedicated to J.K Rowling’s blockbuster series.
The class will be taught by associate professor Neil Randall, who says that now is the perfect time to debut his “Popular Potter” course. Randall goes on to say that now is the perfect time as people of this generation grew up with the Potter series and it matters a lot to them.
While the publication of the first book back in 19997 received a non to lukewarm reception the movie in 2000 made the series a blockbuster.
But does Harry Potter deserve a space alongside Hamlet, as a classic piece of literature?
Randall says that this should be the case if it already isn’t, further adding that Universities tend to have a healthy, though sometimes over the top, attitude about the value of popular works; “if it gets popular, you should be suspicious.” He says that he wants to empower students who grew up with Harry Potter to not have to hide this as being something they loved and that there’s actual value to it. The course will be based exclusively on the novels, and students will be required to read all seven— knowing the movies won’t get you an automatic ‘A’.
The class will look at the character development, as well as the mix of genres and language used and much more, says Randall. Damn, I knew I should have applied abroad for my studies; maybe they’ll take in a late comer!