Are you looking for a way to get your fantasy fix this summer? Look no further than the Mythgard Institute. They will be offering three courses to keep your spirits up and your imaginations in gear. There will be “Elementary Latin I” with Dr. Philip Walsh, “The Arthur Story: History, Mystery, Myth” with Dr. Verlyn Flieger, and “Modern Fantasy” with the Tolkien Professor and friend of the network, Dr. Corey Olsen. And you may want to sit down for this one, fantasy fans – joining Dr. Olsen for a special guest lecture will be none other than Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn.
Perhaps one fantasy author isn’t enough for you? Well, a little bird has told me that Ursula K. LeGuin may be giving a guest lecture as well! If she does plan to join, you’ll hear it here first. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the official press release below for full details of Peter S. Beagle’s visit:
Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn, set to join Mythgard students for guest lecture this Summer
Hartly, DE. – The Mythgard Institute has announced today that American author, Peter S. Beagle will be joining students for a guest lecture in the Summer 2012 “Modern Fantasy” course taught by Dr. Corey Olsen. The guest lecture will take place on May 31, 2012 and will focus on his renowned work, The Last Unicorn, which students will be studying during the first two weeks of class.
Peter S. Beagle is an award-winning author of over twenty books including his first, A Fine and Private Place, The Folk of the Air and Tasmin. His career – starting at the age of nineteen – spans more than 40 years and includes both fiction and non-fiction writing and editing as well as screenwriting for 1978′s The Lord of the Rings and television’s Star Trek: The Next Generation. His beloved The Last Unicorn was adapted to film in 1982 by Rankin/Bass Productions.
In addition to Peter S. Beagle’s work, students in “Modern Fantasy” will also study Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, Jim Butcher’s Summer Knight, Garth Nix’s Sabriel and George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones. “Modern Fantasy” is taught by Mythgard president and Tolkien Professor, Dr. Corey Olsen. Registration for this course closes Monday, May 14, 2012.
The Mythgard Institute in an online institute that offers challenging, engaging classes, taught by world-class teachers and leading scholars in order to provide students with new opportunities to study works by authors like Tolkien, Rowling, Beagle and more seriously and with academic rigor, either for their own enrichment or towards the achievement of a degree. The Institute offers literature courses at the master’s level and offers concentrations in areas such as Tolkien studies, medieval literature, and fantasy literature. The Mythgard Institute is in the process of acquiring full certification and accreditation, and expects to be able to award MA’s in English literature by the spring of 2013.
“Modern Fantasy” is one of three Summer 2012 courses being offered via the Mythgard Institute and its partner in learning, Signum University. The others are “The Arthur Story: History, Mystery, Myth” which will be taught by Dr. Verlyn Flieger and “Elementary Latin I” which will be taught by Dr. Philip Walsh.
