Best known for his Lord of the Rings series, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was also a highly regarded poet and scholar. In the 2008 History Lecture Series, Professor Robin Stacey will illuminate the fluency and fascination with language, mythology and religion that permeates Tolkien's work. Join us for an exploration of JRR Tolkien beyond Middle Earth - the man, the myths, and the meaning.

When:	Tuesdays, January 15, 22, 29, February 5, 12, 2008, 7-9 p.m.
Where:	Kane Hall Room 130, UW Seattle Campus
Cost:	Series Tickets: UWAA Member $50, Non-member $60, Student $20 Patron Tickets: UWAA Member $100, Non-member $125 Patron Tickets with parking pass: UWAA Member $125, Non-member $150 Individual Lectures: UWAA Member $12, Non-member $15, Student $5
Online tickets sales for the History Lecture Series are now closed.

Update: Thanks to all those who attended the 2008 History Lecture Series. Dr. Stacey's talks on Tolkien were a tremendous success! To order an audio version of the Tolkien lectures, please visit the Treefarm Communications site, our partner who recorded the series.

Patron Tickets include all five lectures, preferred seating, and a tax-deductible donation to the UWAA and the College of Arts & Sciences. Non-member Patron Tickets also include UWAA membership. A parking pass can be added for $25.

Schedule

January 15
"He had been inside language"
Tolkien's mother instilled in him a love for languages that would shape his entire life. As a youth, he spent hours inventing the "nonsense languages" that formed the basis for his later fiction. As an adult, he became a professor of medieval languages and literatures at Oxford University. Join us as we probe the connection between language and creativity and examine the nineteenth-century debates over language, folklore and myth that were the intellectual foundations for Tolkien's greatest works.

January 22
"A mythology for England"
The work closest to Tolkien's heart was not the material for which he is best known today. The Silmarillion, a powerful compendium of myth and story begun in his student days and left unfinished at his death, was Tolkien's attempt to provide for England a majestic body of national mythology comparable to that of Finland, Greece or Scandinavia. This is Tolkien's creation story, his most trenchant examination of the spiritual and moral dilemmas of his era—and the necessary backdrop to The Lord of the Rings.

January 29
"The war to end all wars"
Tolkien was a specialist in the heroic literatures of medieval Europe and a particular expert on Beowulf, considered by most to be the greatest of Old English heroic poems. However, his personal experience in the trenches of World War I left him with a profound sense of the horrors of war. This lecture explores Tolkien's views on heroism and war: his passionate conviction that evil must be resisted, his hatred for the futility and waste inevitably attendant in human conflict, and his immense respect for the heroism of individual sacrifice.

February 5
"A fundamentally religious work"
The Lord of the Rings contains no references to organized worship or prayer and promotes no specific religion by name. The spiritual questions it raises, however, are precisely those with which the great theologians also struggled—the origins and limitations of evil, the conflict between divine predestination and human free will, and the unanticipated gift of God's grace. This lecture considers the religious aspects of Tolkien's work and includes a look at his relationship with other prominent Oxford Christians, such as C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams.

February 12
"Allegory and farewell"
This lecture takes up the question of how Tolkien's work has been interpreted and received over the years, from accusations of racism and sexism to Peter Jackson's recent film adaptations. The last word, however, is given to Tolkien himself. Join us as we examine the stories and poems of his later years and watch him reflect on how he chose to spend his life, and on the frequently tortured relationship between creator and creation.

Professor of History and adjunct professor of Women Studies, Robin Chapman Stacey has taught at the University of Washington since 1988. She is a recipient of the UW’s Distinguished Teaching Award and a past holder of fellowships from the Fulbright Association, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Guggenheim Foundation. A self-proclaimed medievalist and a member of the Executive Board of the Medieval Academy of America, Robin's interest in Tolkien began in high school when she read Lord of the Rings for the first time. Recognizing the importance of his works, Robin developed a course on Tolkien highlighting his historical and intellectual perspectives for the UW Honors Program...a course she has since repeated much to the delight of many students.

Professor Stacey has compiled a suggested reading list (.pdf file) of books related to the lecture series.

Location and Directions

The History Lecture Series takes place in Kane Hall Room 130. Kane Hall is located on the north side of Red Square on the UW Seattle campus. View a map showing the location. Paid parking is available in the Central Plaza Garage below Kane Hall. The campus is served by many bus routes - see the UW's transit info page for details.

Driving Directions: From I-5, take the NE 45th Street exit (#169). Turn east onto NE 45th Street. Continue east about one quarter mile to 15th Avenue NE and turn right. Head south on 15th Avenue three blocks to NE 41st Street. Turn left at Gate #1 into the Central Plaza Garage. Stop at the gatehouse inside the garage for directions and a parking permit.

Transit Information: The University of Washington encourages you to join our efforts to improve traffic conditions and to protect the environment. Please consider using an alternative to driving alone to get to events on campus. There are more than 60 bus routes from all over King and Snohomish counties serving the University District— 35 come right to campus. Getting here by bus is easy and inexpensive. For more information on taking a bus to the UW, visit the UW's Getting Here site.