The Elephant (Café) in the Room: Studying Harry Potter at Home and Abroad

In this panel, students and faculty from DePaul University discuss the opportunities, experiences, and issues with studying J.K. Rowling’s seven-part Harry Potter series from multiple academic perspectives. In 2022, the students on this panel took two courses focused on Harry Potter as literature and the Harry Potter fan audience. After the course, students and faculty went on a two-week study abroad course to experience Harry Potter fandom in London and Edinburgh. While the courses focused on the history and culture of the series, it was also continually tainted and overshadowed by the presence of the author herself. Beyond exploring Harry’s literary precursors, including the Arthurian legends and the British school story, such as Tom Brown’s School Days, it also asked students to consider the Potter novels in the historical context of Great Britain in the 1980s and 1990s, including how J.K. Rowling’s continuing social activism and controversial statements about trans rights influences our understanding of the wizarding world – and our own muggle world.