On April 21, I had the great pleasure of visiting the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University at the invitation of ASU’s Harry Potter Society and independent scholar Dr. Joel Hunter, who has the enviable opportunity of teaching a very popular Harry Potter course (which currently holds the record for fastest time for a course to fill during registration!).
In addition to getting to see the beautiful campus of the Barrett Honors College, I had the chance to visit with Dr. Hunter and his wonderful wife Melanie (who apparently make a smashing Snape and Tonks on Halloween), chat with an amazing group of students, and present on the ways in which Rowling’s magical menagerie indicates the influence of C.S. Lewis.
Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University, is a fantastic residential college where bright and promising students learn, grow, 
and connect with one another. As you can see from the pictures, it’s also a beautiful place to find one’s academic pathway. There is even a fabulous “great hall” in the dining facility!
On their academic journey, students have the good fortune to be guided by professors like Dr. 
Hunter, friend of this blog and until recently an ASU professor, whose diverse and thorough scholarship make him a perfect guide at this interdisciplinary academy. Make sure you watch for Dr. Hunter’s terrific chapter on magic and technology in the forthcoming Harry Potter for Nerds from Unlocking Press!
Barrett has an active Harry Potter Society, which gathers regularly to discuss our shared text. I was privileged to get to meet many of the delightful students who are active in this group, as well as those who were part of Dr. Hunter’s highly popular Harry Potter course. We talked about Rowling’s work and its literary, social, and personal impact, as well as conversing about other books, writing, and school. My presentation was well attended and followed up with some super questions. It really was a treat to visit with such engaged students and faculty.
I even enjoyed my plane trip (despite some turbulence), getting to converse with a teacher planning to teach The Hunger Games and a
former Mayland Community College (my school) student who is now a U.S. Marine. I also had Dr. Hunter snap a picture of me in the Sky Harbor International airport, which may seem a bit odd to non-Twilight readers, but of course, Bella gives Jasper and Alice the slip in a ladies room in this airport!
Thanks, Dr. Hunter, for the gracious invite to Arizona, and to Kim Condoulis at ASU, for her extraordinarily competent handling of logistics and one super early ride to the airport!
I wish I could go back to school! This sounds like so much fun.
ASU, with its Harry Potter Society and frequent hosting of visits from Potter Pundits, may be America’s premiere Hogwarts affiliate. I know that Travis Prinzi and I each had wonderful times on our trips to Barrett; Prof Hunter and his students are a delight!
And what a catch to have a picture taken by the Women’s Rest Room at the airport! Is there any signage inside about the importance of this location to the Forks Saga?
hi my name is kelly i’m 12 years old in the 6th grade i’m trying to figure out what university i want 2 go 2 and i’m wondering what state is hogwarts university is in. i live in southcarolina born in florida, i don’t know which university 2 go 2 either coastal carolina,clemson,or hogwarts i don’t know .but i was just wondering where is hogwarts is located. p.s love harry potter/daniel radcliffe!!!!! thank you
Dear Kelly, Alas, I’d love to tell you we have an admissions packet on the way, but our school exists only here. I am a professor at an actual college, Mayland Community College in North Carolina (www.mayland.edu), and several of the other “professors” also teach at various institutions. I hope that wherever you pursue your studies someday, that you find it just as magical as Hogwarts.