Fantasy Media in the Classroom

Emily Dial-Driver is a professor of English at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma, and fiction editor of RSU’s Cooweescoowee: A Journal of Arts and Letters. Sally Emmons is an associate professor of English at Rogers State University and the managing editor of Cooweescoowee. Jim Ford teaches humanities, philosophy, and religion at Rogers State University and is director of the honors program. His articles have been published in the Journal of Religion, the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, and Honors in Practice.

“a common misconception is that professors who use popular culture and fantasy in the classroom have abandoned the classics, yet in different contexts fantasy materials can enrich an established curriculum…explanations of how best to use them in the classroom”—CBQ; “shows how fantasy can be used to teach interpretation and critical thinking, and how fantasy can be used as springboard for discussion of issues such as cultural similarities and differences, human relationships, and social mores”—Reference & Research Book News.

• Table of ContentsPreface EMILY DIAL-DRIVER      Introduction JIM FORD      I. Seeing the Classics in a New Light: Using Fantasy as a Lens in Traditional ClassesPop Pedagogy JESSE STALLINGS      Added Interest, Added Value LAURA GRAY      Bruce, Bill, and Barack CAROLYN ANNE TAYLOR      II. Integrating New Works: Using Fantasy to Enrich Traditional ClassesFlights of Fantasy JIM FORD      Fusion Curriculum EMILY DIAL-DRIVER      “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore” SALLY EMMONS      Critical Thinking and Post-Apocalyptic Literature MARY M. MACKIE      Corruptible Power FRANCES E. MORRIS and EMILY DIAL-DRIVER      Breaching Barriers Between Work and Play SHAKA MCGLOTTEN      Fantasy Classics: Hobbits and Harry in Interdisciplinary Courses JIM FORD      III. New Directions: The Joys of Fantasy ClassesHansel, Gretel, and Coraline J. RENEE COX      The Fantastic Classroom: Teaching Buffy the Vampire Slayer EMILY DIAL-DRIVER      Buffy Versus Bella: Teaching about Place and Gender JACQUELINE BACH, JESSICA BROUSSARD and MELANIE K. HUNDLEY      Brave New Classroom: Using Science Fiction to Teach Political Theory KENNETH S. HICKS      Incarnations of Immortal Creations EMILY DIAL-DRIVER      Conclusion JIM FORD      About the Contributors      Index