Anna Smol: A Single Leaf

Tag: Tolkien Society Seminar

  • Free online seminar: Arda’s Entangled Bodies and Environments

    You can sign up for a free online seminar featuring analyses of bodies and environments across Tolkien’s works. October 18 via Zoom. Details in the link.

  • Inclusive Perspectives on Tolkien & Religion

    In an article published in 2014 in the journal Tolkien Studies, aptly titled “But What Did He Really Mean?” Verlyn Flieger points out the contradictory statements that Tolkien made about various issues, the most controversial being about whether or not The Lord of the Rings was an expressly Catholic work. Flieger states: Thus he could…

  • Upcoming deadlines: CfPs in Tolkien studies

    We’re still enjoying summer weather here in Nova Scotia, but let’s face it, fall is just around the corner, and with it, some deadlines for Tolkien scholars interested in presenting their research at conferences in the coming year.  If you don’t intend to propose anything, you still might want to browse the topics that people…

  • Tolkien studies in Leeds 2023

    Programs have now been announced for two events to take place next month in Leeds, making the first week of July a great time to listen to presentations on Tolkien, either in person if you’re able to make it to Leeds in the UK or online for everyone else. The Tolkien Society always sponsors its…

  • It’s all about the Second Age

    The recent TV series Rings of Power has drawn attention to Tolkien’s stories of Númenor and of the making of the rings, both set in the Second Age of Middle-earth. As is usual with adaptations, the show has drawn increased attention to what Tolkien wrote, although plenty of scholars and fans have been commenting about…

  • Online and hybrid Tolkien conferences 2023

    Thanks to my friend Robin A. Reid for compiling some of this information on hybrid and online Tolkien conferences in 2023. The hybrid conferences will allow in-person or virtual attendance and presentations. There is still time to submit proposals if you’re interested in giving a presentation! The list below is ordered according to deadlines for…

  • Leeds is the place to be next week for Tolkien talks

    Although I wish I could be in Leeds this coming week to see friends and attend Tolkien sessions in person, I will be settling for the next best thing, zooming in from home. Two events occur annually in Leeds, and this year they are both in hybrid formats: the Tolkien Society Seminar on Sunday, July…

  • Tolkien talks in May 2022 & reminders for July

    Two events for this month will feature online presentations on Tolkien. The first is a free event to be held on Saturday May 7th, the Tolkien at Kalamazoo Symposium. A program and link have not yet been published, but I will post it here as soon as the information is available. [May 4 edit: the…

  • Fall term and summer reviews

    I am halfway into the fall term — always a busy time with meetings, grading, and class preparations. It’s hard to find time for research — or blogging. But one thing that I like to do whenever I have a half hour or so is to review videos of past conference presentations or listen to…

  • Upcoming Tolkien conference sessions (Tolkien Society Seminar and IMC Leeds)

    These sessions are not for those who rush to join bandwagons based on meaningless politicized terms such as “woke” or who advance the anti-intellectualism prevalent in groups where any academic is suspect, and expertise (whether of academics or fans) is ridiculed.  These sessions, as always, are for open discussions and debates by faculty, students, independent…