Aug 29, 2018
Corey Olsen, aka The Tolkien Professor, started out putting his
college lectures out in podcast form, and ended up founding an
online master’s program devoted to the study of imaginative
literature: Signum University. We discuss Signum, the state
approval process, the current advantages and prospects of online
education, some differences between Tolkien and Lewis, and reading
Tolkien with children.
Links
Signum University https://signumuniversity.org/
Mythgard Institute (Signum’s free programs for the public)
https://mythgard.org/
The Tolkien Professor Podcast
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tolkien-professor/id320513707?mt=2
Corey Olsen’s website https://tolkienprofessor.com/
Timestamps
Corey Olsen
2:38 Signum University approved by the New Hampshire Higher
Education Commission
3:02 Scope of studies at Signum University: definition of
imaginative literature; Tolkien at the center
5:54 A fundamental difference between Tolkien and Lewis
15:23 The process of getting an educational program approved by
a state board
22:46 Corey’s motivations to podcast: desire to communicate with
more than a tiny academic audience, unfulfilled demand from people
who want to study Tolkien seriously
28:43 Making online education more than just an efficient
correspondence course: real-time interaction and community
33:14 Online education as an affordable alternative to bilking
students and exploiting faculty
40:00 Signum’s free programs for the public at the Mythgard
Institute
47:04 How old should your kid be to read The Lord of the
Rings?
52:38 Moralizing Tolkien vs. Lewis: how they lend themselves to
different ways of reading with children
56:17 This week’s reading: J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter
250 https://amzn.to/2PLXhcs
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