Teaching With Magic

Elise Cedeno

Teaching with Magic explores fantasy literature, pop culture, literacy, and teaching. This audio blog researches how fictional and real-life teachers make magic in the classroom. We use narrative inquiry to explore teachers in fantasy literature, as well as conducting interviews with other educators and researchers in the fantasy field. You'll hear us talk about J.R.R. Tolkien, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and other wonderful stories that resonate with teachers and students alike.

  1. 05/07/2025

    Andor and Abolition: with Kristi Riley

    Kristine Riley is a PhD candidate in the sociology program at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her studies focus on critical criminology, feminist theory, social justice, public policy, and popular culture. Her dissertation, currently titled “Breaking Glass, Making Prison: How carceral feminism shapes the prison nation,” examines the gendered political economy of the criminal legal system in the contemporary era of reform.  She holds B.A.s in psychology and community studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, a Master’s of Science in conflict resolution from the University of Oregon Law School, and a Master’s of Philosophy in Sociology from the CUNY Graduate Center. Since joining the GC, she’s held fellowships with Humanities New York and the GC’s Center for the Humanities. Before becoming a Fellow with TLC, Kristi spent a decade working in criminal legal services, policy, research, and system reform.  I first encountered Kristi's work on Visible Pedagogy, a blog site run by the Teaching and Learning Center at the CUNY Graduate Center. Visible Pedagogy is a blog dedicated to advancing and expanding conversations about teaching and learning at CUNY. The staff of the Teaching & Learning Center, Contributing Writers, and CUNY faculty, staff, and students collaboratively author the blog. Kristi's series analyzes the Star Wars: Andor series from the lens of abolition and pedagogy: a study of educational practices as they relate to institutional racism, antislavery movements, and the prison industrial complex. Abolitionist pedagogy asks us to imagine and engage in pedagogical praxes “beyond carceral logics of the current penal and criminal justice systems” (Feliciano, Talisa). Abolitionist pedagogy, broadly put, asks us to examine the systemic practices in education that reflect and directly lead to incarceration, from punitive, no-tolerance practices to racist individuals and school cultures that actively put Black, Brown, immigrant, and queer children in prison. Kristine effectively argues that Andor is uniquely situated to criticize our current systems, but also cautions us to reflect on and improve our practices so that we can develop pedagogical strategies that rely on "trusted relationships and not threats of punishment." For more resources on abolitionist pedagogy, check out the following: Critical Resistance: https://criticalresistance.org/ – Abolitionist Educators Workgroups: https://criticalresistance.org/abolitionist-educators-workgroup/ -Ruth Wilson Gilmore: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/people/ruth-wilson-gilmore -Dylan Rodriguez: https://linktr.ee/dylanrodriguez73 scallywag -Mariame Kaba: https://mariamekaba.com/ Angela Davis

    1h 12m

  2. 02/25/2025

    Part of a Legacy

    The recent release of Ahsoka in live-action has been a delight to fans of The Clone Wars series, the Prequel films, and Star Wars: Rebels. But, while this show has captivated audiences everywhere, it has also emphasized a gradual change in a beloved character. The episode "Shadow Warrior" was an emotional flashback to Ahsoka's participation in the Clone Wars, and the live-action filmmaking has changed what was once an entertaining story to an examination of the gritty, traumatic memories of a child in war.  Research has shown that the brain, particularly the adolescent brain, drastically changes in the face of trauma and war. As a result, learning and schooling are negatively impacted when faced with continuous trauma. A recent study showed that more than two-thirds of children in the United States have or will experience trauma before the age of sixteen and that this number is likely to increase because 140,000 children have lost a caregiver to COVID-19 in recent years (Ernest, B. W., Reaves, M. & Smith, R., 2022). Many schools and universities have adopted trauma-informed teaching strategies after the COVID-19 pandemic and refugee crises. Still, it can be difficult for educators to imagine what children need in the long term to respond to trauma, as opposed to quick fixes that address negative behaviors at the moment.  This presentation will examine Ahsoka's character arc and education as an apprentice to her role as Master to Sabine. I will compare evidence from episodes in The Clone Wars and Ahsoka to educational research to determine how the Clone Wars impacted her learning and apprenticeship. I seek to answer the following questions: 1. How did the constant stress of war and the need to make quick decisions impact Ahsoka's education? 2. How did the trauma of the war impact Ahsoka's apprenticeship with Anakin Skywalker, and consequently her role as Master in teaching Sabine Wren?  3. How can narrative inquiry into fictional stories inform teaching practices and methods in real-world classrooms in the "post-pandemic" era?

    25 min

  3. 01/26/2025

    Professor Binns and the Lost Art of Lecturing: with Dr. Katy McDaniel

    For Witch and Wizard School Stories, visit https://tinyurl.com/H5B-hpalt For resources on reading Harry Potter after 2020, visit https://hpafter2020.com/ Today's guest is Dr. Katy McDaniel, co-host of Potterversity: A Potter Studies Podcast. Katy is an Andrew U. Thomas Professor of History at Marietta College in Marietta Ohio. While she specializes in early modern British history, she teaches various courses in World History, Modern European History, the history of science, and historiography. She is the author and editor of several Harry Potter chapters, essays, and books, including Harry Potter for Nerds Vol. II and Potterversity: Essays Exploring The World of Harry Potter. In today's episode, we will reference an essay that Katy wrote for the journal The History Teacher, a publication by the Society for History Education, Inc. In this essay, Katy discusses the lost art of effective lecturing. She uses Hogwarts' History of Magic Professor Binns as an example of the importance of active listening and the teaching of history.

    1h 37m

  4. 12/17/2024

    The Core of the Original

    Happy Holidays from Teaching with Magic! The holidays are here, and there are some days when the students (and teachers!) want to just kick back and watch a movie. If you're watching a film adaptation of the class novel, then this episode will help you consider the language of adaptation theory and ways that you can inspire your students to think creatively about the text, critique and analyze adaptations, and enjoy the differences in a medium's representation of our favorite stories... especially if it includes puppetry. Dr. Maggie Parke is a professor and Director of Signum Studios at Signum University who focuses on the adaptation processes of event films and fan management. Her research included working on the sets of Twilight (2008), Captain America (2009), and the Academy Award-shortlisted short, Love at First Sight (2010). She also investigated the gaming industry, researching with Turbine Inc. on The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) and DC Comics’s Infinite Crisis. Maggie co-hosts and co-produces Rings and Realms and Other Minds and Hands with Dr. Corey Olsen.

    1h 16m

  5. 11/12/2024

    I Wisely Started with a Map: with Dr. Stentor Danielson

    Today's guest is Dr. Stentor Danielson of Slippery Rock University. Stentor specializes in Cultural Geography, Environmental Ethics and Justice, and Wildfire Management. Their research interests often merge their love of cultural geography and J.R.R. Tolkien, with peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Tolkien Research and some new publications on the way!

    1h 37m

  6. 09/03/2024

    Moons and Maths: Teaching Fantastic Math and Science with Dr. Kristine Larsen

    Hello and welcome back to another episode and a new "Teaching With Magic" season! Our first guest is the incredible Dr. Kristine Larsen, astronomy and physics professor and pop culture extraordinaire. Kristine teaches courses at Central Connecticut State University. She is heavily involved in science outreach and serves on the Board of Advisors and as co-leader of the Solar Observing Section of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). Kristine frequently publishes works on Tolkien, Lewis, and other fantasy and science fiction stories in the Journal of Tolkien Studies, and has a chapter in Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings" called "Melkor, Moon-Letters, and Menelmacar: Middle-earth in the Science Classroom." You can find more of Kristine's published works on her website. Kristine and I talk about how science isn't all that scary, how to bring the humanities and sciences together in the classroom, and just how valuable experiential and inquiry classrooms are in today's society. Like this episode? Be sure to leave a rating and a review! You can visit our website at http://teachingwithmagic.blog for all of our episodes, and you can find the Hobbit Activity Packet on our Patreon site. Resources for the Science Classroom: The Hobbit: https://sites.ccsu.edu/astronomy/hobbit.htm Harry Potter Series: https://sites.ccsu.edu/astronomy/hpstarfinder.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kODmcRM1SI&t=7s  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRy9f1vaUIw&t=27s  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf1GkXhpYMw&t=32s  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-H82bM0uNQ&t=42s Article: Harry Potter and the Upcoming Venus Conjunction Transits, Spots, and Eclipses: The Sun's Unique Role in Outreach Background Artwork by Matej Cadil and Kip Rasm

    42 min

  7. 04/01/2024

    Season 1 Finale: The Teachers with Magic Panel Discussion

    Hello all, and THANK YOU for your unwavering support of the Teaching With Magic Project! I am so pleased to introduce the season one finale, a panel discussion with several friends of the Podcast who share their perspectives on the current state of teaching. We talk about the joys and the hardships of teaching and teaching fantasy, and we talk about some of the images and tropes that have contributed to some of the difficulties that teachers face. How much do pop culture, the media, and their depictions of teachers influence how real-world teachers are treated? Listen up, and don't forget to comment with your thoughts and ideas! Topics: Nick's first year of teaching (07:00), Anachronistic teaching in the realm of King Arthur (18:00), Our favorite teachers in pop culture and fantasy (32:34) Methods and practices we emulate from our favorite teachers (58:30), Common teacher tropes in the media; are they helpful or harmful? (1:25:00) Panel biographies: Nick Polk: Nick currently serves as the Production Editor for Mallorn, the academic journal of The Tolkien Society. He is a high school English teacher and has written various articles about Tolkien, adaptation, pop culture, and theology. He co-hosts the ⁠Tolkien Heads podcast⁠ with Tripp Fuller from Homebrewed Christianity and is the creator of the ⁠Tolkien Pop! Substack⁠ where he writes on the various intersections of Tolkien and pop culture. When he is not reading something Tolkien-related, Nick enjoys brewing and drinking coffee, listening to punk music, and watching the latest television series with his wife Kelly. Dr. Joe Torres: ⁠Joe Torres⁠ is a mathematician and a teacher originally from Louisiana but now living and working in Michigan. In 2011, he earned his BS in Math from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. After teaching high school math for three years, he returned to school at Texas A&M University, where he earned his PhD in Math in 2020. Since then, he taught math at a community college on the Texas Gulf Coast for 2 years and now teaches at a small classical high school in the Catholic tradition in South Central Michigan. During this time, he earned his Graduate Diploma in Language and Literature focusing on Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Literature from Signum University and is now working on an MA in Philosophy focusing on Christian Wisdom at Holy Apostles College and Seminary. Joe loves reading, learning, and discussing math, literature, philosophy, and theology with friends and is a proud patron of the Prancing Pony Podcast – the best podcast this side of Bree. ⁠Becca⁠ is a community college English composition and literature instructor in southeastern Oklahoma and is currently a Ph.D. student working in Tolkien studies at the University of Swansea and the University of Central Oklahoma. Outside of academics, she serves as Barliman on the Prancing Pony Podcast, which truly is the best podcast this side of Bree. She is notorious for her ability to pun anything and her students have expressed some concern about the amount of coffee and tea she drinks. Becca can talk fantasy literature all day, every day, and loves finding ways to incorporate this love into her teaching. ⁠Jordan Rannells⁠ is an audio engineer, composer, and teacher from Ottawa, Ontario. Jordan has spent several years studying sound engineering, music, and teaching from college and seminars in Nashville with Victor Wooten and other renowned teachers and musicians. He has taught Recording Technology and Sound Design in Ottawa over the past few years and is currently spending his time creating full audio soundscapes for fantasy and sci-fi books, designing sound FX, and writing original scores to create a ‘movie in your ears’. And don't forget to support Teaching with Magic by visiting our ⁠website⁠, ⁠Patreon⁠, and ⁠Ko-Fi⁠ pages! We'll be back in a few months with season 2.

    2h 13m

  8. 02/26/2024

    The Meta Episode- Podcasting and Learning with Dr. Corey Olsen

    Today's episode is all about podcasting! How do podcasting and audio make learning accessible? What do podcasts, streaming, and J.R.R. Tolkien have in common? Learn the answers to these questions and more as Teaching with Magic discusses the beginnings of Signum University, the Mythgard Institute, and the Tolkien Professor with Signum University President Dr. Corey Olsen! Dr. Corey Olsen is the President of Signum University and Mythgard Institute. In addition to teaching classes on J.R.R. Tolkien, Chaucer, and modern fantasy literature for Signum, Dr. Olsen has extended the concept of the digital classroom to include non-traditional outlets. Through the Mythgard Academy, he offers free weekly lectures on works of speculative fiction chosen by Signum University supporters, and he has embraced the “new literature” of cinema and video game adaptations through interactive programs such as The Silmarillion Film Project and in-game discussions of Lord of the Rings Online. On his teaching website, The Tolkien Professor, Dr. Olsen brings his scholarship on Tolkien to the public, seeking to engage a wide and diverse audience in serious intellectual and literary conversation. His website features a series of detailed lectures on The Hobbit and recordings of the weekly meetings of the Silmarillion Seminar, which worked its way through the Silmarillion chapter by chapter, as well as more informal Q&A sessions with listeners. His book Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s "The Hobbit" was published by Houghton Mifflin in September 2012. Don't forget: you can visit Teaching With Magic at http://teachingwithmagic.blog for more updates, and you can support Teaching with Magic on Patreon and Kofi. Just one more episode to go before the Season ends!

    53 min
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About

Teaching with Magic explores fantasy literature, pop culture, literacy, and teaching. This audio blog researches how fictional and real-life teachers make magic in the classroom. We use narrative inquiry to explore teachers in fantasy literature, as well as conducting interviews with other educators and researchers in the fantasy field. You'll hear us talk about J.R.R. Tolkien, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and other wonderful stories that resonate with teachers and students alike.

Information

  • Creator
    Elise Cedeno
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Elise Cedeno
  • Show Website
    Teaching With Magic