COURSE SYLLABUS

FANTASY IN THE REAL WORLD:

LITERATURE THROUGH THE SOCIOLOGICAL LENS
IFSA London Global Flagship

US Semester Credit Hours: 3

Contact Hours: 45
Course Code: EN281-16 / SO281-16
Course Length: Semester
Delivery Method: Face to face
Language of Instruction: English

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Fantasy literature has great power – but does it also have great responsibility? This course
looks at the impact of popular fantasy, folklore, and their fan culture in modern
society. We will examine various texts’ creation, consumption, and their ability to impact
the real world.

Using works such as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, His Dark Materials, and The Lord of
the Rings (subject to change), we will use fantasy as a safe space to explore sociological
topics that are difficult to clarify in the real world, such as race, gender, class, and political
processes.

This course will also take advantage of our London location, exploring sites important to
these works, and feature guest speakers who will help us approach the texts from new and
exciting angles.

COURSE DELIVERY
Students are expected to read, or view assigned resources in advance, and be prepared to
actively discuss them in class. In most meetings, the instructor will provide an overview of
the topic, and then facilitate a group discussion, drawing out relevant themes, following
up on specific lines of inquiry, and prompting students’ thoughtful engagement with the
topic.

Students are encouraged to bring their prior learning experiences into class discussions
(based on experiential learning theory) and to make cognitive connections between this
course and others whenever possible (based on the philosophy of integrative learning). As
we are discussing potentially contentious subjects, civility, patience and kindness are
always expected from all students.
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The class will introduce students to a wide range of fantasy literature, reading them
through the lens of creative construct and social issues. Part of class will be devoted to
learning how to design and carry out research. Each student will carry out an original
creative research project on a subject of the student’s choice, with the approval of the
professor.
Students who successfully complete this course will:

• Learn to orally present analyses, reflections on others’ works, and listen to others;
• Learn to design a creative project, and conduct independent research;
• Understand general history of fantasy literature as it relates to audience creation,
fan communities, and social constructs;
• Recognize the reaction of industry and adapted practices within the creative
industries to these topics;
• Explore fantasy literature to recognize construction, world-building, societal
creation, and its inclusion or exclusion of groups, concepts, or ideals;
• Interrogate the role of the author in the interpretation of a creative work;
• Use concepts and methods of intercultural communication to appreciate cultural
differences and mitigate cultural conflicts both between individuals, groups, and
institutions;
• Acquire skills related to short video production and techniques for articulating
social science topics through that medium;
• Leverage digital journaling techniques to document personal reflections on this
course, learning progress and perception of course concepts;
• Become familiar with resources available for further research on fantasy literature
and the social sciences; and
• Make cognitive connections between learning in this course and other learning
experiences.

Texts used in this course (feel free to read before the course begins)
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (book 1, The Hunger Games, but feel free to read all 3)
Harry Potter, JK Rowling (book 1, The Philosopher’s Stone, but feel free to read all 7)
His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (book 1, Northern Lights, but feel free to read all 3)
Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris (book 1 in The Southern Vampire Mysteries series)
The Binti Trilogy, Nnedi Okorafor (book 1, Binti, but feel free to read all 3)

Helpful to read, but not required. Students familiar with these are welcome to throw
them into the discussion:
The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (especially The Fellowship of the Ring)
The Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis (especially The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
Twilight, Stephanie Meyer (especially book 1)
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (we will look at specific sections in class)
Vaster than Empires and More Slow, Ursula K. Le Guin
Babel, Rebecca F. Kuang
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
The Deathless Girls, Kiran Milwood Hargrave
The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud

Note that websites like World of Books Ltd, Better World Books, and Abebooks offer used,
cheaper editions of the central books assigned for this course.
Other reading materials will be provided via Canvas wherever possible.

COURSE OUTLINE

Session One: Introduction – January 18th (Wednesday)

Topics – Introductions, syllabus overview, assessment details and co-curricular activity

details. Tutor-led introduction on terminology (Intersectional, Sociology, anthropology,
ethnography, etc.), including an overview of the key issues surrounding the study of
Fantasy Literature.

Central Questions –What is the hero’s journey and how does it provide a structure for
exploring life, growth, and place in society? What are archetypes, and what can they show
us? Why are we looking at youth/teen lit? What is myth, and how does it relate to the
fantasy genre?

In-Class Screening – sections of “The Power of Myth” by Joseph Campbell (Episode 1, The
Hero’s Journey)

At home, please watch – Marlon James’ Tolkien Lecture 2019 at Pembroke College Oxford,
“Our Myths, Our Selves” (available on Youtube - Marlon James, 'Our Myths, Our Selves,'
Tolkien Lecture 2019 - YouTube).

Please also feel free to look at Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces,
especially Part One, “The Adventure of the Hero”. This is not required reading, but it is
helpful to explore. You can find a free copy of Campbell’s book at this link: The Hero With
A Thousand Faces, Commemorative Edition (Princeton University Press; 2004)
(rosenfels.org)

Session Two: Fantasy and Science: The Boundaries of ‘Genre’ Field Visit – January
25th (Wednesday)

Topics – what is genre?, science, utopia, and dystopia.

Field Visit to the Science Museum in South Kensington, for the exhibition Science Fiction:
Voyage to the Edge of Imagination. We will spend two hours out on the field trip and use
the last hour of class to discuss our experience.
At home, in preparation for our visit, please read Ursula K. Le Guin’s essay “Myth and
Archetype in Science Fiction”, which is also a good essay to keep thinking about the
central role of ‘myth’ in fantasy: LeGuin Essay.pdf (cusd80.com).

Please also make some notes about the following questions, which we will discuss
together once we have returned from the exhibition: what qualifies a narrative as a
fantasy or a science fiction narrative? What’s the role of science and technology in fantasy
world-building? What’s a ‘utopia’? What’s a ‘dystopia’?

Session Three: Power and Governments in Fantasy – February 1st (Wednesday)

Topics – authority and control, governmental structures, hierarchies and the role of the
media in fantasy narratives (with a focus on Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Philip
Pullman’s His Dark Materials).

Central Questions – How is governmental control/influence narrated in these novels? What

aspects of real-world discourses surrounding autonomy, authority and control can we find
in fantasy narratives?

In-Class Screening – sections of The Hunger Games

Reading – The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins and His Dark Materials (Northern Lights),
Philip Pullman

Suggested reading: Jean Baudrillard, The Precession of Simulacra – link here: untitled
(homeworkforyou.com)

Session Four: Class – February 8th (Wednesday)

Topics – school and community structures, leadership roles and propaganda, birth right
and family/blood, especially in reference to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

Central Questions – How is class commented upon in The Hunger Games? In this instance,
we’ll also start thinking about the mechanisms of novel to film adaptation that will recur
through the course.

In-Class Screening – The Hunger Games

Reading – The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Article – Nicole Allan on “Hunger Games” for The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/03/the-hunger-games-crosses-
child-warfare-with-class-warfare/254834/

*ESSAY DRAFT DUE*

Session Five: The Spaces of Fantasy - February 15th (Wednesday)

Topics: portrayals of the city in fantasy narratives, geography, climate change and politics.

Central Questions: what’s the function of places and spaces (ie: the city, for example) in
these texts? How do space and geography aid/impede the hero’s journey? Are
historical/political/social commentaries woven into the narratives through depictions of
geographical locations? How does fantasy world-building allow us to re-imagine the
traces of history that are embodied in geography?

Reading – His Dark Materials (Northern Lights), Philip Pullman and Chapter 6 in Book II of
The Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien.

Please also read Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1971 short story “Vaster than Empires and More
Slow”. Link here: LeGuin_VasterThanEmpires.pdf (eyeofmidas.com)

Session Six: Race and Representation – February 22nd (Wednesday)

Topics: race, representation, and adaptation in fantasy.

Reading: Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

Please also read:

1) “Re-Thinking Genre, Thinking about Race”, from Race and Popular Fantasy
Literature: Habits of Whiteness, Helen Young.
2) “Introduction” from The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter
to the Hunger Games, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas.
3) “Notes Toward a Black Fantastic: Black Atlantic Flights beyond Afrofuturism in
Young Adult Literature”, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas.

Articles - https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-12-01/black-hermione-
harry-potter-cursed-child
And/Or - https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/jk-rowling-rejects-racial-backlash-casting-
harry-potter-play-msna759676

Session Seven: (Dis)Ability – March 1st (Wednesday)

Topics - Introduction to fan culture, fandoms and fan studies. Discussion of

Disability/Ability/Power, projection and use in literature.

Central Questions - What is fan culture? How do fan communities work? What are their
spaces like (online and in person - cons etc.) and how do they communicate? How is
disability presented in this literature? What does it suggest? What issues arise or what is
overlooked?

Reading – Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris

Instructor to provide a section from Alaya Dawn Johnson’s Trouble the Saints.

Please also read:

“Introduction” in Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)Ability, Race and Gender in Black Women’s

Speculative Fiction, Sami Schalk. Link here: 978-0-8223-7088-8_601.pdf (dukeupress.edu)

“Introduction” in Disability, Literature, Genre: Representation and Affect in Contemporary

Fiction, Ria Cheyne. Link here: Disability, Literature, Genre: Representation and Affect in
Contemporary Fiction (oapen.org)

*ESSAY IS DUE*

Session Eight: Authorship and Fan Culture – Talk and Workshop with guest
organisation Fandom Forward – March 8th (Wednesday)

Topics - fandom, fan culture and studies, trans representation, Harry Potter and the
gender issue.

Fandom Forward is an organization that explores the ‘power-building’ methodology of fan

activism: what role do fandoms have in shaping the history and impact of certain texts on
communities?

The workshop will enable us to think about the concept of ‘fandom’, and the ‘afterlife’ of
fantasy texts. This touches upon various central questions: 1) how do you negotiate
problematic authors? 2) what are the social and political dynamics surrounding fantasy
literature and the fantasy market? 3) why are these perceived as not worthy of study and
not worthy of academic interest? 4) the concept of the fandom: what is it, and how do fan
communities work?

The workshop is also designed to provide a space to examine the debate surrounding the
Harry Potter series.

Reading: Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris

Suggested reading: the Harry Potter debate: https://www.glamour.com/story/a-complete-

breakdown-of-the-jk-rowling-transgender-comments-controversy
https://www.shaabaandjamie.com/post/jk-rowling-essay

Session Nine: Gender and Sexuality – March 15th (Wednesday)

Topics – hero leads compared to heroines historically, and the new movement for gender
bending/construction. Sensitive men and strong women: perspectives on the ‘strong
female lead’ wave.
Central Questions – What is the importance of mise-en-scène, i.e., painting the setting to
support or subvert the expected? What are the depictions of gender in the texts we are
considering in this course, and in the extracts presented in this class?

Reading: instructor to propose a series of small extracts from novels for group work.
Extracts may include passages from Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, Tamsyn
Muir’s Gideon the Ninth and Kiran Milwood Hargrave’s The Deathless Girls.

Please also listen to Between the Covers Podcast: Crafting with Ursula: Karen Joy Fowler on
Experimental Women, Animals, Science and Story: Crafting with Ursula : Karen Joy Fowler
on Experimental Women, Animals, Science & Story - Tin House.

You are also always welcome to refer to other books from the syllabus.

Session Ten: Fantasy and Language – Guest Lecture by Rebecca F. Kuang (tbc) –
March 22nd (Wednesday)

Topics: language, colonialism, structures and hierarchies of power, naming, and

translation.

Award-winning fantasy author Rebecca F. Kuang recently published a fantasy novel,

Babel, that uses the genre to expose the very overbearing power of colonialism, and the
ways in which colonialism uses language to establish authority and control over cultural
production.

Central Questions: What’s the role of language and language experimentation in fantasy
narratives? What are the implications of creating a new linguistic structure? Can fantasy
investigate the power of language to foster oppression or freedom? How and why
experimenting with language that feels familiar but is not can give us a sense that we’re
looking into ‘other worlds’, worlds we do not know, worlds that are eerie and have their
own rules?

You will be provided with some extracts from Kuang’s novel, Babel and from Jonathan
Stroud’s The Amulet of Samarkand, in view of the talk.

Session Eleven: Religion – March 29th (Wednesday)

Topics - religious metaphors, issues surrounding the representation of religious traditions,

the treatment and role of religion within the genre.

Central Questions – How is religion depicted in these texts? How is it used as a device for
story or character development/progression? Does the creator have a responsibility to be
moral? To consider religious reactions?
Reading – We will discuss Northern Lights, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the
Rings.

Session Twelve: Other Medias - Freedom and Form – April 5th (Wednesday)

Topics – gaming, transmedia storytelling, fan fiction/re-invention. Business decisions,

social changes, and PR effects. Workshops for final project.

Central Questions – How are the topics we have examined so far seen in other fields? Has
the gaming world been affected by similar conversations and issues? How are
considerations incorporated into other media now (i.e. does Disney look to diversify its
stories? Have the remediations of Harry Potter moved towards a more gender-fluid
interpretation?). Why do creators make the decisions they do? What effect does that have
on financial return and popular reception? How much should that influence
decisions/creative practice?

Reading – Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Twilight, The Chronicles of Narnia.

*JOURNALS ARE DUE*

Session Thirteen: The Fantasy Market: Challenging Expectations – Panel Discussion

with Guests – April 12th (Wednesday)

Topics: Three professionals (chiefly agents and editors in the field of fantasy publishing)
are invited for a ‘roundtable’ discussion about new trends in fantasy literature. Students
are then allowed to ask questions and mingle. Students will be able to discuss topics such
as the gender imbalances in the fantasy community, and we’ll take a look at contract
differences between genders with the guests’ professional insight.

Central Questions: How does the world of publishing work? What are publishing agents
and houses looking for in a fantasy narrative? What trends dominate the world of
contemporary fantasy?

Session Fourteen: Other Medias – Final Presentations, and What’s next? - April 19th
(Wednesday)

Central Questions: How has the landscape changed in the last 2, 5, 20 years? What guides
are in place to affect change? Legal/professional/cultural? Where is this going? What’s on
the horizon?

Reflections on what we have learnt throughout the course, what has surprised us (and
what has not!) about fantasy.

*FINAL CREATIVE PRESENTATIONS*

RESOURCES
The following texts will be assigned reading as part of this class; students are encouraged to view
the film adaptations (some we will watch in class) if possible, though it is not required.

• The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

• Harry Potter, JK Rowling
• Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
• His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

Book series are not necessarily intended to be read in their entirety and the designated excerpts to
be explored in this class will be communicated with students at the beginning of the term.

Additional fantasy books and films to be referenced in this class may include:

• The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

• The Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis
• Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
• The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
• The Deathless Girls, Kiran Milwood Hargrave
• Babel, Rebecca F. Kuang
• Binti, Nnedi Okorafor
• Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
• The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud
• Trouble the Saints, Alaya Dawn Johnson

Supporting texts that provide sociological context for class discussions and assignments may
include:

• The Sociology of Harry Potter, ed. Jenn Sims

• Enterprising Women (ethnography), Camille Bacon-Smith
• Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, John Storey
• A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon
• Textual Poachers, Henry Jenkins
• Fandom, Henry Jenkins
• Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers, Henry Jenkins
• Race and Popular Fantasy Literature, Helen Young
• The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games,
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
• “Notes Toward a Black Fantastic: Black Atlantic Flights beyond Afrofuturism in Young
Adult Literature”, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
• The Fantasy of Disability: Images of Loss in Popular Culture, Jeffrey Preston
• “Devices and Desires: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Disability in Literature for Young
People”, Jane Stemp, Disability Studies Quarterly
• Disability, Literature, Genre: Representation and Affect in Contemporary Fiction, Ria Cheyne
• Harry Potter and the Issue of Gender (www.shaabaandjamie.com/post/jk-rowling-essay)
• The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin
• The Precession of Simulacra, Jean Baudrillard
 • Fandom as Methodology: A Sourcebook for Artists and Writers, Catherine Grant and Kate
Random Love.
• The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, edited by Edward James and Farah
Mendlesohn
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
• Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)Ability, Race and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction,
Sami Schalk

EVALUATION METHODS
The course instructor will provide specific requirements and grading rubrics for individual
assignments for the course. Your final grade in the course will be comprised of the following
course requirements.

Participation -10%
Article Presentation -15%
Essay -25%
Journal -20%
Creative Presentation -30%

Participation:
Students are expected to complete the weeks’ reading at the time of class starting (i.e. if Week
Two says The Hunger Games, you must complete the text before week two’s class starts). Students
are expected to participate in class discussion, be attentive, respectful, and engaged.

Article Presentation:
Students will present an article from that weeks’ news that engages on some aspect of art and
intersectional issues. Each student will present once over the course of the semester, with a few
presentations at the start of each class. This may be on any subject, in any industry, but it must
present an issue regarding the creative industries and human engagement (e.g. should we restore
native art? Cultural appropriation in the fashion industry, civic funding to the arts, etc.).

The student needs to 1) state where the article is from, 2) Summarize the main points, and 3)
engage a discussion/answer questions. PowerPoint/Prezi is optional, 5-10 minutes total.

Essay:
The essay draft will be 1500 words and serve as an exercise that will help you to work through your
readings of the texts in question, sharpen your argumentative skills, examine your writing process,
and work with constructive criticism to improve your work. For this reason, there is a required
revision of the essay, which you will submit after comments from and consultation with your
professor. This final essay will be 1500 words, graded, informed by the comments you receive from
your professor, illustrating growth from the draft, and consideration of critical feedback.

Journal (written or video):

Students must write a one-page (250 word minimum) journal entry or create a 2-minute video
discussion on 4 topics from class (4 pages/1000 words/8-minute minimum). Using whatever
creative elements desired to get their idea across (imagery, graphs, special effects, quotes, etc.)
considering and reflecting on a topic discussed in class, or response to an element of the reading,
talk, or field trip. These are meant to be informal, but practiced, illustrate effort, critical thought
and attention. More formal than a letter to your parents, less formal than a submission to BBC.
Topics could be race, gender, religion, a field trip, adaptation practice, fan culture, casting, an
article, etc.

Creative Project:
For this project, students will be asked to select one work of literature from the course and provide
a summary of one issue explored in the text and its adaptation and propose a ‘fix pitch.’ This pitch
will present a way for the work to better represent the underrepresented, or respond to criticism,
reclaiming the story for a new purpose. This 10-minute presentation should be professional,
persuasive, utilize research, evidence, and a PowerPoint/Prezi is expected to clearly get your ideas
across. It must also be accompanied by a 500-word Pitch Document, summarizing your pitch for
professional consideration.

Timely Submissions
Assignments submitted after the deadline will be accepted at the discretion of the course
instructor and generally only in the event of a documented illness or emergency.

Academic Accommodations
If you are a student with a disability and experience academic barriers, please provide a letter from
your home institution outlining the accommodations required. The instructor will discuss with
you the accommodation plan for the class.

ATTENDANCE
Academics and learning are at the core of your study abroad experience. Based upon research,
studies show that students perform and learn better when they attend class regularly. Therefore,
it is IFSA’s expectation that students on our programs attend class regularly. Active and engaged
attendance includes regularly scheduled classes, mandatory field visits, studios, recitations,
workshops and laboratory sessions. Attendance will be recorded, and all absences are treated
equally, regardless of reason.

The Resident Directors and professors of IFSA classes set the specific attendance policy for each
location, including how absences impact final grades. Refer to your IFSA Student Handbook for
full attendance policies.

IFSA Class Attendance Standards:

Percentage of Class Sessions Missed Minimum Penalty

Total Class Hours Missed
Up to 10% 0–1 No academic penalty
10 – 20% 2–3 Reduction of final grade
More than 20% More than 3 Automatic course failure

• You must notify instructors and the appropriate on site IFSA staff member prior to an
absence from class or class‐related activities.
• Attendance policies also apply to any required class co-curricular excursion and internship
or field/lab study hours.
• If participation is part of the overall class evaluation, you will not earn participation points
for classes you are absent.
• Penalties or grade reductions for assignments that are turned in late due to absence are at
the discretion of the instructor.
 • Late arrivals to class may be considered absenteeism.
• Persistent absenteeism (students approaching 20% or more of total course hours missed)
may lead to:
o A written warning;
o Notification to the student’s home school; and/or
o Dismissal from the program
• Any requests for exceptions related to IFSA’s minimal class attendance expectations
should be discussed with the Resident Director for approval.

GRADING SCALE

IFSA uses the following grading scale for all classes:

Excellent A 93 – 100%

A- 90 – 92%

Good B+ 87 – 89%

B 83 – 86%

B- 80 – 82%

Acceptable C+ 77 – 79%

C 73 – 76%

C- 70 – 72%

Unsatisfactory D+ 67 – 69%

D 63 – 66%

D- 60 – 62%

Failing F <60%

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Any academic endeavor must be based upon a foundation of honesty and integrity. Students are
expected to abide by principles of academic integrity and must be willing to bear individual
responsibility for their work while studying abroad. Any academic work (written or otherwise)
submitted to fulfill an academic requirement must represent a student’s original work. Any act of
academic misconduct, such as cheating, fabrication, forgery, plagiarism, or facilitating academic
dishonesty, will subject a student to disciplinary action.

IFSA takes academic integrity very seriously. Students must not accept outside assistance without
permission from the instructor. Additionally, students must document all sources according to the
instructions of the professor. Should your instructor suspect you of plagiarism, cheating, or other
forms of academic dishonesty, you may receive a failing grade for the course and disciplinary
action may result. The incident will be reported to the IFSA resident director as well as your home
institution.