Tolkien Classes

This page hasn’t been updated in years. It may never be updated again.

About This Page

The works of J.R.R. Tolkien have gained widespread recognition throughout academia for their literary innovation and value. It is helpful to review the comments and requirements associated with the course descriptions. Academic Tolkien Studies are found in a variety of disciplines, including Modern Literature, Medieval Literature, Classical Studies, Religious Studies, and more.

Classes will be added to the list as we find them. If you know of a course that should be listed here, please Contact Michael Martinez.

Some institutions offer Tolkien-related courses through their Special Studies or upper level seminar classes. If there is specific information about a course, and only if it seems to be offered periodically, we’ll list it here but otherwise one-time special classes will probably not be included.

About This Table

I don’t remember exactly when I started this list, but it was probably somewhere in the years 2005-2006.   At the time I had more time to work on these projects.  Now it’s 2017 and I have updated the list but I have to be honest with you: a lot of these classes probably no longer exist.  I haven’t had time to update the information nearly as often as I have been contacted by the faculty teaching these classes.  Some of these folks have retired; some have almost certainly moved on to other positions.  I don’t know if the institutions still offer all these classes.

I should have included a year for when I received the information, and when it was last updated.  I didn’t think  to do that.  I’m sorry.  The most recent listing as I write this is for the Aquinas College course, which was added in April 2017.  I think that for the last few years I have added new course information to the top of the listings.

Tolkien Course Web Sites

Aquinas College – CA200 Tolkien, Narnia, and the Catholic Imagination with Dr. Stephan Davis LEARN MORE
Rhode Island College – English 350: Tolkien and Language LEARN MORE
Rice University – English 318 with Dr. Jane Chance LEARN MORE
Purdue University – Classical Studies 337: The Ancient Epic with Dr. John T. Kirby LEARN MORE
Manhattanville College – English 2004: Fantasy Worlds with Dr. Marion D. Perret LEARN MORE
Villanova University – J.R.R. Tolkien with Dr. Thomas W. Smith LEARN MORE
Bucknell University – English 101: Tolkien and Fantasy with Alfred K. Siewers, Assistant Professor of Medieval Literature LEARN MORE
Florida Southern College – English 397: The Literatures of J.R.R. Tolkien with Dr. Alex Bruce LEARN MORE
Marshall University – Honors 295: Tolkien and Film with Drs. Timothy Burbery and Bob Edmunds LEARN MORE
Southern Methodist University – Tolkien: Middle Earth (sic), Middle Ages: A Dallas Medieval Consortium Course with Professors Dennis Kratz, Stephen Maddox, and Bonnie Wheeler
Syllabus is in .PDF format
LEARN MORE
The University of Chicago – Tolkien: Medieval and Modern with Professors Rachel Fulton and Lucy Pick LEARN MORE
California State University, Northridge – English 493: Senior Honors Tutorial on J.R.R. Tolkien with Dr. Scott Kleinman LEARN MORE
California State University, Northridge – English 495: Senior Seminar on The Lord of the Rings with Dr. Scott Kleinman LEARN MORE
St. Louis University – English 316.01: J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings and Its Literary Context with John Walter, Ph.D. candidate LEARN MORE
Washington University in St. Louis – Middle-earth and Bharata Varsha with Dr. Jerome Bauer LEARN MORE
California State University, Chico – Religious Studies 265: Religious Dimensions of Literature, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien with Dr. Jed Wyrick.
The syllabus is a .PDF file.
LEARN MORE
University of Maryland – English Department Courses: 428A/0101 Seminar in Language and Literature: Tolkien: Author of the Twentieth Century with Dr. Verlyn Flieger LEARN MORE
University of South Carolina – ENGL 283-501 Themes in British Writing LEARN MORE
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – Classics 30 and Classics 30A: The Heroic Journey with Dr. Kenneth J. Reckford LEARN MORE
University of New Mexico – Tolkien Studies for Advanced Readers with Dr. Leslie Donovan LEARN MORE
University of Washington – English 349: Fantasy with Dr. Malcolm Griffith LEARN MORE
Anderson College – Honors Colloquium X02: Theology and Literature with Dr. Edgar V. McKnight LEARN MORE
University of Delaware – Honors English 110: Speculative Fiction and the Medieval with Dr. Brian Gastle LEARN MORE
University of Dayton – English 490-P3: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien Seminar with Brother Tom Wendorf, S.M., Ph.D. LEARN MORE
University of Baltimore – English 358: Tolkien: Master of Fantasy LEARN MORE
University of Texas, Austin – Philosophy 361K: Tolkien and Mythopeia with Dr. Robert Koons LEARN MORE
University of Northern Colorado – English 497: Modern Medieval Fantasy with Tom Bredehoft LEARN MORE
Weber State University – English 3270: Modern American Fantasy and Its Origins with Dr. M. Diane F. Krantz LEARN MORE

Schedules mentioning courses