Ohio State University is offering a course on Harry Potter as Cultural Artifact and Literature. Fox News has included it in its online slideshow of ‘Oddball 101: The 11 Wackiest College Courses Being Taught on American Campuses Today.’

Really, though, at $814, the Harry Potter course is the cheapest offering among the wacky. Most of the others, from FemSex and Maple Syrup Making to Tree Climbing, Zombies, and Arguing with Judge Judy, come in at over $4,000. Potter Studies is definitely the way to go, especially if your Minor is in Economics.

Fact Check: I just searched for a Harry Potter course at OSU and found only one on ‘Narrative Theory’ that was taught last Spring and a 575 Level class on ‘Themes.’ Could Fox News be wrong? A first!

Travis Prinzi, author of Harry Potter and Imagination, James Thomas, author of Repotting Harry Potter, and Hogwarts Professor John Granger (that’s me), author of The Deathly Hallows Lectures, are joining Fandom’s most popular podCasting adventure, The Leaky Cauldron’s (TLC) ‘PotterCast,’ tomorrow night in their 203rd program.

See the program announcement on the TLC main page and tune in for the full explanation of what we Three Potterteers will be discussing on future shows– and how you can join that conversation.

For those of you coming to HogwartsProfessor.com (HogPro) for the first time after listening to the PotterCast or reading about the Potter Pundits at TLC, welcome! (More after the jump.) [Read more…]

Lev Grossman of Time Magazine interviewed me about all things Harrry and Bella last week and our Q&A was posted on the ‘Nerd World’ blog at Time.com this morning — and the article came with a link to Hogwarts Professor. If you are joining us for the first time after reading that online exchange, welcome! Please make yourself feel at home and join in any of the conversations on the various threads here.

I recommend — to get a feel for what the discussions are like at Hogwarts Professor — that you check out last week’s post on the real world Reformation heretics after whom Ms. Rowling named her Muggles (and her Seekers), a note on the allegorical meaning of Dumbledore in Half-Blood Prince (mostly lost in the film, alas), and a free-for-all discussion about whether literary alchemy translates to movie adaptations from text.

If you’re more interested in Twilight conversations, head on over to Forks High School Professor.com, the HogPro Twilight sister site. Either way, “Thanks for joining us!” and “See you tomorrow!”