England, Enchanted

By Jennifer Walker | Article photo courtesy of Giselle Parks: Summer 2017 students pose with a set from the Harry Potter films at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour near Watford, England.

You're not 11 years old anymore. But that doesn't matter when the letter finally arrives, because regardless of the time it took to reach you, you're going to Hogwarts.

During a four-week study abroad program in London, Florida State University students can explore the Wizarding World, Middle Earth, and Narnia where the novels Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia are studied in the heart of their birthplace—England.

The Religion, Fantasy, and British Culture course—referred to as the “Harry Potter Class” by FSU students— seeks to identify the origin of these novels within the context of British history and religion. Ultimately, it helps students grasp the oversaturation of these works in popular culture.

“It’s taking over the world,” says Sonya Cronin, who teaches the Harry Potter Class abroad and has a Ph.D. in humanities.

You don’t understand culture if you don’t understand this modern fantasy.

Cronin explains how these works of fiction have saturated our culture so heavily that their fans have even created a common language. As these works of fantasy are passed down to subsequent generations, they continue to permeate cultural ideologies.

If the impacts of these novels are going to dictate the course of our future—even indirectly—then it is vital to examine their undertones and influences,

Cronin says.

With the added element of studying in London, it is difficult to leave this course without a deeper understanding of the literary works.

“I realized that putting this class in the context of the location where these stories were written could add yet another layer of depth to the course,” says Zoë Crook, the International Programs coordinator for this program.

Students who take the class have the opportunity to explore the places that inspired the creation of not just the Wizarding World, as it is called in Harry Potter, but also the worlds of Narnia and Middle Earth. From the doorstep of the London Study Center, to every museum and historic site, “Nowhere is not a teaching moment,” Cronin says.

Students can navigate King’s Cross Station and Platform 9 ¾ just as Harry Potter did on his journey to Hogwarts. They can stroll in the footsteps of authors C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien in the streets of Oxford, and they can go for lunch at The Eagle and Child pub, where Lewis and Tolkien would often come to write, and drink in an atmosphere that undoubtedly bled into their respective literary works.

“Hearing about these locations through the lens of [literary] fantasy changed the way I will see not only these spots, but the world around me forever,” says Sarah Jamison, who took the inaugural abroad course in 2017.

Although the novels are all fantasies, there are real parallels that can be drawn between England and the fictional universes.

J.K. Rowling did not create the world of Harry Potter—the world was England. What she did was enchant it,

Cronin says.

By experiencing the locations that brought the books to life, students gain an insight into the authors’ minds.

“I could have taken it as a lecture class in Tallahassee, and it would have been fun,” says Giselle Parks, who took the class abroad in the summer of 2017. “But I feel like my experience was made so much more valuable [by] quite literally walking the same paths these authors did, and learning about the culture and rich history of each place while learning about these stories.”

The 2017 summer class gathers at The Eagle and Child pub in Oxford, England

Photo courtesy of Giselle Parks

A large element of the course involves specific focus on British culture and the effect it may have had on the authors’ works. This prompts visits to pubs—a staple of British life—and many historic sites that have played a significant role in British history. For example, Cronin brings the students to see the crown jewels at Tower Bridge. It is a uniquely British representation of generational power that stretches across all three works— as with the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings series.

Students also visit the Imperial War Museum in London, since both World War I and II left a lasting scar on England and inevitably on literature, particularly in World War II, when Britain stood in Europe at the end “as the last bastion of freedom holding back the darkness,” Cronin says.

This idea of Britain being the final defense reflects a powerful parallel between the World Wars in England and the stories that were written thereafter. The Order of the Phoenix in Harry Potter also stands as the last defense against Voldemort, the primary villain in the saga. Similarly, in The Lord of the Rings, if the villain Sauron wins, the entire West falls.

In addition to history, religion has also played a vital role in the shape of British literature. When she initially signed up for the program, Parks expected to learn about the writing processes behind these series.

“What I didn’t expect,” she says, “was leaving this experience with so much more knowledge about these fantasy series and how closely interwoven they are with some of the most well-known tropes in Christian religion.”

The class discusses the origins of good and evil, and the ways religious depictions of evil are typically portrayed as a fall from good. It is a concept that has been mirrored in the three main novels studied by the class — villains who fell into darkness.

Through pub culture, the World Wars, and religion, “British consciousness was transmitted to the world through fantasy,” Cronin says.

These stories have had an undeniable influence on the world. Whether or not you’ve read them, you know they exist and you know that millions of people share a love for them. Children in the 1990s grew up with the Harry Potter books, and now their children are, too.

As new generations of children follow in the footsteps of Harry and his friends, this FSU program has left students with a better understanding of the path Harry is leading them down.

Worldwide Wizarding World

By Jennifer Walker

Victoria Messana hugs the sorting hat from Harry Potter, located outside the Harry Potter Expo in Valencia.

Photo courtesy of Ignacio Messana

Though the universe of Harry Potter is set in England, the fan base is not merely made up of native English speakers. Along the streets of Valencia, Spain, Harry Potter-themed statues were placed in popular tourist locations—a teaser for tourists and locals alike. In fact, those wonders awaited fans in the summer of 2019 at the City of Arts and Sciences within the Valencia Harry Potter Exposition.

One local Harry Potter fan, 9-year-old Victoria Messana, explained that the stories are just as much of a phenomenon in Spain as in predominantly English-speaking countries.

One of my friends has seen all the movies in Spanish and English,

she said.

Victoria was particularly determined to locate all four of the statues hidden throughout Valencia before visiting the Expo. The final statue, conveniently enough, was located right in front of the Expo.

After posing with the giant statue of the sorting hat—which determines your Hogwarts House in the books and movies—Victoria was able to visit the Expo and be sorted into a house by a more accurately sized reproduction of the sorting hat. A brave Gryffindor, Victoria then ventured deeper into the exhibit, where she pulled a screeching Mandrake plant from its pot. She even played a variation of quidditch—the sport played on flying broomsticks in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Thirty magical minutes later, Victoria had seen all of the exhibits at the Expo with her father, FSU Valencia Dean and Director Ignacio Messana, more passionate than ever about Harry Potter and the friendships his stories can inspire. With this newfound enthusiasm, Victoria smiled and said,

I want to go to London, because I want to see the Harry Potter Studios.