Potterversity: A Potter Studies Podcast26 Feb 2024

Potterversity Episode 48: Self and Others

On this episode, two more contributors to our book talk about their chapters on equality, inclusion, and compassion.

Travis Prinzi and Mark-Anthony Lewis join Katy and Emily to discuss how the wizarding world serves as a lens through which to understand the social ethics of our own world, particularly amid racial tensions and diversity. Travis's chapter, "The Problem with Loving Enemies: Kindness and Oppression in 'The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,'" and Mark-Anthony's chapter, "Uncle Remus's Shack: Tokenism in the Wizarding World," both examine how we respond to people who are different from us.

For Travis, studying critical race theory in education while rereading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in preparation for the release of the final book made him see systemic prejudice in the wizarding world in new ways. It was house-elf slavery and the discussions around it that made Mark-Anthony think deeply about how their oppression came about.

Travis sees the seemingly simple fairy tale of "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" take on completely new meaning when put in the historical context Dumbledore provides in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Mark-Anthony applies W.E.B. Du Bois's idea of "twoness" to magical minorities, some of whom have a literal "twoness" as hybrid beings like centaur and merpeople.

How can we use the wizarding world to find solutions to the challenge of social and racial equality in our own world? For a start, we can confront our fear of the unknown and embrace the freedom to be wrong - and learn from it.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(119)

Potterversity Episode 72: Harry Potter and Identity

Why is it important to read Harry Potter critically? Katy and Emily talk about bridging the academic and fan worlds with Dr. Julian Wamble, who teaches a course called Harry Potter and Social Identit...

11 Mai 1h 12min

Potterversity Episode 71: Potter Meets Molesworth

We're going back to school, and specifically Latin class, on this episode.Dr. Mitchell Parks (Knox College) joins us once again to connect classical studies to Harry Potter, but this time, we're not l...

13 Apr 59min

Potterversity Episode 70: Harry Potter and the Call for Papers

This special episode is a call to join us at our favorite event of the year - the Harry Potter Academic Conference!The 15th annual conference is back in person at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia...

30 Mar 46min

Potterversity Episode 69: Potter Gets Stranger

We're entering the Upside Down to compare Harry Potter and Stranger Things following the Netflix series's final season. Spoilers ahead - proceed with caution!Katy, Emily, and producer Laurie reflect o...

9 Mar 1h 16min

Potterversity Episode 68: When in Doubt, Go to the Library

We're heading to Hermione's favorite place in this episode: the library!Ian McLaughlin, an PhD student in English who also holds an MLIS, joins Katy and Emily to reflect on libraries and librarians in...

9 Feb 1h 5min

Potterversity Episode 67: The Best Hope We Have

We're back with another episode recorded live at the 14th annual Harry Potter Academic Conference, which took place online in October 2025.Katy and Emily are joined by several conference regulars—prod...

12 Jan 58min

Potterversity Episode 66: Back to Wizarding Business

Why is there a lack of service businesses in the wizarding world? Following up on our earlier episode about magical businesses, our technical director, Emma Nicholson, joins us to continue the conver...

14 Jul 202541min

Potterversity Episode 65: Potter & Trek Part 2 - The Reality Inside Your Head

We're voyaging out to the farthest reaches of space and into the deepest recesses of the mind for another look at Harry Potter and Star Trek. Potterversity regular Louise Freeman, a retired psycholog...

9 Jun 202556min