Last semester when Kathryne LeFevre, Librarian/Assistant Professor, and I, attended Conjuration, a Harry Potter Convention in Atlanta, we didn’t realize we would receive so much recognition for our work in the SOC 235 Inequality in Society class, also known as the “Harry Potter” class at Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College (SKYCTC).
Kathryne and I were invited to present at the convention about our collaboration to create a totally immersive Harry Potter class. We were not ready for the positive feedback we received during the presentation. We explained how the students are sorted into ‘houses’ and work in those houses as a group the entire semester. We showed pictures of the students leading class discussions, using topics from the Harry Potter books and then relating them to international social issues, along with possible solutions or little things that the class could do to help those affected by the issues or to help bring awareness to the issues.
We shared projects that they participated in, such as “More Love Letters,” “Stop Bullying” campaigns and more.
But the heart of the presentation came when comments from five students from the “Harry Potter” class, who also attended the convention, stood up and shared their experiences. Lizz Hancock, Kae Delph, Jackie Travis, Ronny Morris, and Drew Gumm all discussed how much they learned about the world and the inequalities in it and how they are now becoming active in various social campaigns to help with these issues.
These students are also members of the local social activist group, Fandom of the Phoenix – Harry Potter Alliance.
When it was time for questions from the audience, one comment came through multiple times- “But this is at a community college!” “How does that work?”
I explained that SKYCTC is not just a community college; it is a college with a culture of caring. It is a place where we teach our students to look at things that they see every day – television, movies, books, music – and to look at them from a sociological perspective and use their sociological imagination to see how others feel and how they can help someone else.
This approach was very well received, even after the presentation, when we were interviewed by John Granger, the Dean of Harry Potter Scholars, for a MuggleNet Academia podcast, the 2nd largest Harry Potter podcast and website. We were asked by the host how the class was run, what the students thought, and at the end, “But this is a community college?”
Yes, SKYCTC is a community college, BUT it is so MUCH more than that! This two-year college has teachers who care and classes that engage the students.
After the podcast, Kathryne and I were asked to submit our college to the list of colleges that teach Harry Potter courses on the MuggleNet Academia website [http://www.mugglenet.com/specialty-site/mugglenet-academia/]. SKYCTC is the ONLY community college listed there and is one of only two Kentucky colleges on the list, the other being Morehead State University (my alma mater).
It is impressive to see SKYCTC listed beside Yale, Duke, Stanford, Georgetown and more.