Below are listed publications that deal specifically with teaching Tolkien’s works or life in college-level or at least secondary school courses. Format (print, ebook, web, etc.) has been omitted in these citations, since several of these sources appear in multiple formats. Although the citations included on this page are screened for relevance, we invite any teachers who wish to contribute works on teaching Tolkien’s works by suggesting them in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Beal, Jane. “Teaching Tolkien’s Translations of Medieval Literature:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Orfeo and Pearl.”  This Rough Magic 5.1, (June 2014): 1-40.

Chance, Jane. “Tolkien and his Sources.” Approaches to Teaching Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Ed. Miriam Youngerman Miller and Jane Chance. New York: MLA, l986. 43-68.

—–. “Tough Love: Teaching the New Medievalisms,” Studies in Medievalism 18 (2010): 76 – 98.

Donovan, Leslie A., ed. Approaches to Teaching Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings and Other Works. New York: MLA, 2015. Forthcoming.

Dotolo, Frederick, and Theresa Nicolay. “Approaching History Through Literature: Generating Knowledge Through Writing and Inquiry in a Cross Disciplinary First-Year Learning Community.” The History Teacher 42.1 (2008): 25-34.

Fimi, Dimitra. “Teaching and Studying Tolkien.” Mallorn 46 (2008): 27-29.

Ford, Jim: “Fantasy Classics: Hobbits and Harry in Interdisciplinary Courses.” Fantasy Media in the Classroom: Essays on Teaching with Film, Television, Literature, Graphic Novels and Video Games. Ed. Emily Dial-Driver, Sally Emmons, and Jim Ford. Jefferson: McFarland, 2012. 138-47.

Foster, Mike. “Teaching Tolkien.” The Lord of the Rings, 1954-2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder. Ed. Wayne G. Hammond, and Christina Scull. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2006. 257-67.

Gross, Thomas F. “The Promise of the Personality Theories Course.” Teaching of Psychology 9.2 (1982): 113-14.

Honegger, Thomas, and Jana Honegger. “Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings – Beyond the Printed Text.” Cultural Studies in the EFL Classroom. Ed. Werner Delanoy and Laurenz Volkmann. Heidelberg: Winter, 2006. 323-35.

Jorgensen, Estelle R. “Myth, Song, and Music Education: The Case of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Swann’s The Road Goes Ever On.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 40.3 (2006): 1-21.

Kotlarczyk, Adam. “Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, and Creativity.” Illinois English Bulletin 102:2 (2015): 23-38.

Larsen, Kristine. “There and Back Again in the Classroom and in Outreach: Astronomy and The Hobbit.” Mercury 41.4 (2012): 15-17.

—–.. “The Astronomy of Middle-Earth: Teaching Astronomy through Tolkien.” Cosmos in the Classroom. Ed. Andrew Fraknoi and William Waller. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific Press, 2004. 237-45.

Lief, Jason. “Challenging the Objectivist Paradigm: Teaching Biblical Theology with J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Guillermo Del Toro.” Teaching Theology & Religion 12.4 (2009): 321-32.

Monta, Susannah B. “Teaching Spenser As Fantasy Literature; Or, How to Lure Unsuspecting Undergraduates into a Spenser Course.” Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture 3.2 (2003): 191-96.

Morgan, Alun. “The Lord of the Rings – a Mythos Applicable in Unsustainable Times?” Environmental Education Research 16 (2010): 3-4.

Perry, Phyllis J. Teaching Fantasy Novels: From the Hobbit to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Portsmouth, NH: Teacher Ideas Press, 2003.

Purser, Phil. “‘There and Back Again’: J. R. R. Tolkien and the Literature of the Medieval Quest.” Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching 16.2 (2009): 31-42.

Rankin, Sherry. “‘Where Are the Horse and the Rider?’: An Approach to Using J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings to Teach Medieval Literature in the British Literature Survey Classroom.” CCTE Studies 79 (2014): 48-57.

Reid, Robin Anne, and Judy Ann Ford: “From Beowulf to Post-modernism: Interdisciplinary Team-Teaching of J. R. R.Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” The Ring Goes Ever On: Proceedings of the Tolkien 2005 Conference. Vol. 1. Ed. Sarah Wells. London: The Tolkien Society, 2008.

Risden, E L. “Teaching Tolkien and His World, and Why He Matters.” Tolkien’s Intellectual Landscape. Jefferson: McFarland, 2015. 181-99.

—–. “The World of the Text: Source Study, Philology, and Teaching the Middle Ages Through Tolkien.” Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching 19.2 (2012): 81-94.

Ruane, Abigail E, and Patrick James. “The International Relations of Middle-earth: Learning from The Lord of the Rings.” International Studies Perspectives 9.4 (2008): 377-94.

Schindler, Tim, Matthew DiPietro, and Randall Wesley. Concerning Hobbits and Other Matters: Tolkien Across the Disciplines: Papers Delivered at the University of St. Thomas Tolkien Conference, April 26, 2001. St. Paul: University of St. Thomas, 2001.

Thomas, Melissa. “Teaching Fantasy: Overcoming the Stigma of Fluff.” English Journal 92.5 (2003): 60-64.

Wodzak, Victoria Holtz. “Running Widdershins Round Middle Earth: Why Teaching Tolkien Matters.” Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis 29.1  (2009): 10-16.