Teaching Tolkien at an Arts College

A personal recollection of how inheriting a course on Tolkien led to unexpected insights into the pedagogy of speculative fiction and a renewed understanding of the values of a traditional Liberal Arts education. It took me a long time to figure out a few things about teaching that rarely get mentioned in discussions of pedagogy. One of those things is simply this: teachers should come to class as ready to learn astheir students, if not more so. Once I learned that, my vocation became much easier, and much more fun.