Another book

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

that I bought at Nimbus 2003:

Harry Potter's World: Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives
editor: Elizabeth Heilman

Some of the essays are mildly interesting ("Reading Harry Potter
Through Navajo Eyes" and the three essays in the Literary section) but
far more are annoying, especially the two essays by the editor herself
are *wildly* annoying. For example, she says that the Hogwarts House
Elves being depicted as not demanding their freedom brainwashes
readers into believing that slavery is okay.

However, there is one interesting (altho' disproved by OoP if not
earlier) idea in one of the essays in the Cultural Studies section.
"Harry Potter's World: Magic, Technoculture, and Becoming Human" by
Peter Appelbaum. I can't tell you what that essay is about, because I
don't know (it turns out that Cultural Studies is a foreign language
to me, even when they don't say "diegetic" or "the noir imaginary"),
but here is the second half of one paragraph, which I understand as
recommending a way to get students interested in school learning: let
them think they're saving the world.

"[The professors] often turn out to be fully aware of what is
happening, or at least adequately conscious of what Harry and his
friends are up to so that they can offer assistance at just the right
moments. And Harry and his friends always seem to have just mastered
enough new spells and tricks to accomplish what is necessary. In the
end, as with the gundam hero, it is the child who must save the world.
Nevertheless, in these books, the bleakness is tempered. It is almost
as if the adults know that the "real" curriculum is outside of the
classes and is just enticing enough to interest these children in
their preparation for leadership. Real-world challenges provide the
problem-solving context so necessary for meaningful learning. As a
treatise on education, the Harry Potter books make an intriguing
statement on the boundaries across the school and popular curricula.
If we only knew the story of every other child at Hogwarts, could it
be that they, too, are having adventures? Maybe the school is set up
to trick people into coming together for real-life problem-solving
outside of school under the careful guidance of Dumbledore and his
friends?" 

"Maybe the school is set up to trick people into coming together for
real-life problem-solving outside of school under the careful guidance
of Dumbledore and his friends?"