The Signum Scene

The Signum Scene

The Signum Scene podcast covers Signum University news, Signum Symposia, and creator chats from Signum Plaza—engaging talks on literature for fans and scholars. Featuring event updates, faculty chats, MA student thesis presentations, and interviews with leading academics and creators, it offers something for everyone.

<h3>Matthew Dickerson</h3> <h4>Tolkien as Early Environmentalist</h4> <a href="http://mythgard.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/08/shapeimage_4.png"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-8828 alignleft" src="http://mythgard.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/08/shapeimage_4-223x300.png" alt="Matthew Dickerson" width="223" height="300" /></a><a href="http://matthewdickerson.net/Welcome.html">Matthew Dickerson</a> is a Professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, associated with the Department of Computer Science, the Program of Environmental Studies, and the <a href="http://blogs.middlebury.edu/neywc/">New England Young Writers’ Conference at Bread Loaf</a> (which he directs). He has written or co-written several important books on Tolkien and other fantasy literature, including Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B8563F2/?tag=mythgainstit-20">From Homer to Harry Potter: A Handbook on Myth and Fantasy</a>; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587430851/ref=as_li_tl?tag=mythgainstit-20">Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings</a>; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813125227/ref=as_li_tl?tag=mythgainstit-20">Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C. S. Lewis</a>; and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587433001/ref=as_li_tl?tag=mythgainstit-20">A Hobbit Journey: Discovering the Enchantment of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth</a>. He also writes novels, including a novelization of the "Finn and Hengest" story. In addition to his teaching and writing, he is a musicians, songwriter, and avid fly-fisherman. He lives on a 62-acre wooded hillside parcel of land, where he taps trees, makes his own maple syrup, raises honeybees, keeps a garden without pesticides, and heats his house using wood from his own property. Matthew Dickerson's guest lecture for the Mythgard Academy is titled "Tolkien as Early Environmentalist." Recordings from June 17, 2015: Watch: <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mythgardacademy/GuestLectureSeries/2015-06-17_MatthewDickersononTolkienasEarlyEnvironmentalist.mp4">Guest Lecture Video</a> Listen: <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mythgardacademy/GuestLectureSeries/2015-06-17_MatthewDickersononTolkienasEarlyEnvironmentalist.mp3">Guest Lecture Audio</a>

<h3>Michael D. C. Drout</h3> <h4>Lexomic Analysis of Beowulf and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Scholarship on the Poem: A Confluence</h4> <a href="http://mythgard.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/02/NewDroutCoverPhoto.jpg"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-8142 alignleft" src="http://mythgard.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/02/NewDroutCoverPhoto-200x300.jpg" alt="NewDroutCoverPhoto" width="200" height="300" /></a><a href="http://michaeldrout.com/">Michael Drout</a> is Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. He has published several books of scholarship on Tolkien, Anglo-Saxon literature in general, and Beowulf in particular, including <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien-Encyclopedia-Scholarship-Assessment/dp/0415865115/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423356926&sr=1-2">J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment</a>, <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Sorcerers-Men-Tolkien-Fantasy-Literature/dp/0760785236/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423356926&sr=1-3">Of Sorcerers and Men: Tolkien and the Roots of Modern Fantasy Literature</a>, and <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Beowulf-Critics-Medieval-Renaissance-Studies/dp/0866982906/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423356926&sr=1-4">Beowulf and the Critics.</a> He is active in the promotion and dissemination of spoken Old English texts, and has himself made many recordings of Old English poetry and prose. His important work at Wheaton College’s Lexomics Research Group has led to the development of new, computer-assisted methods of textual analysis. Michael Drout's guest lecture for the Mythgard Academy is titled "Lexomic Analysis of Beowulf and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Scholarship on the Poem: A Confluence."   Recordings from March 23, 2015: Watch: <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mythgardacademy/GuestLectureSeries/2015-03-23_LexomicAnalysisofBeowulfMichaelDrout.mp4">Guest Lecture Video</a> Listen: <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mythgardacademy/GuestLectureSeries/2015-03-23_LexomicAnalysisofBeowulfMichaelDrout.mp3">Guest Lecture Audio</a>

C. S. Lewis used the German term sehnsucht to describe an inconsolable yearning, "an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction." Mythgard faculty member Sørina Higgins offered observations about Lewis and sehnsucht in a bonus lecture entitled "The Heraldry of Heaven: The Development of Sehnsucht in the Writings of C. S. Lewis" for the <a href="http://www.mythgard.org/academics/fall-2014-courses/lewis-tolkien/">Tolkien-Lewis Mythgard Institute</a> course. And in the true Mythgard tradition of continuously breaking new ground, this lecture is available free for viewing and/or listening. <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mythgardacademy/GuestLectureSeries/2014-10-07_TheHeraldryofHeaven.mp3" target="_blank">Audio version</a> <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mythgardacademy/GuestLectureSeries/2014-10-07_TheHeraldryofHeaven.mp4" target="_blank">Video version</a>

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