Two courses will be taught as part of the Honors College Retro Readings next fall, both addressing the value of artistic intent and interpretation.

Chelsea Hodge, director of grants and research innovation for the Honors College, will again teach Harry Potter, a deep dive into the seven books in the popular young adult series.

The class will examine the books as a work of modern British literature, a cultural touchstone and a multi-billion-dollar commercial franchise. Discussions will touch on topics of history, gender studies, international relations, political science and sociology, and the impact of these themes on readers of all ages. Students will be asked to critically examine the text and what it, and its public reception, might tell us about our society.

"We're all familiar with Harry Potter books," Hodge said. "This familiarity makes them a perfect vehicle to tackle the challenging ideas and concepts that the books touch on. The author as an individual will also be a topic of discussion as we ask, can or should we separate the art from the artist? I look forward to seeing how students bring their own interests and academic background to the discussion and final projects."

Alan Gosman, chair of the Department of Music and professor of music theory, will lead students through an exploration of how composers create musical contrasts and challenge traditional formal boundaries, shaping interpretation through shifting relationships between opposing elements. Students will examine composition sketches; analyze works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Clara and Robert Schumann and Schubert; and select contemporary songs to reflect on these themes, with no prior music analysis experience required. 

FALL 2025 RETRO READINGS SEMINARS 

Harry Potter 

Is The Cursed Child canon? What if Voldemort had picked Neville? Which deathly hallow would you choose? What did Dumbledore really see in the Mirror of Erised? All these questions and many more will be asked in this popular course along with analyses of weekly readings, and participation in weekly discussion sessions that will form the central structure of the course. This broad range of content will give students the opportunity to strengthen their skills in intensive reading, critical thinking and building evidence-based arguments. Students of all majors are welcome; don't let the fact that it's a class about books intimidate you. 

Bridging Differences: Music's Lessons About Contrasts and Labels 

The focus of this music theory course will be on how contrasts are formed and break down the traditional formal boundaries that these contrasts or labels might impose and analyze whether their elements remain opposed or are found to share some of the same spaces. The class will also consider the composition sketches for several pieces, including Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony and Schubert's Winterreise to allow observation of how contrasts and boundaries evolve over the course of the creative process.

Alan Gosman is chair of the Department of Music and professor of music theory. He has published on Beethoven's sketchbooks and compositional process, musical form, canons and links between performance and analysis. Prior to joining the faculty at the U of A, he was an associate professor at the University of Michigan, where he was the director of graduate studies in music theory. Before that, he taught at Michigan State University and Harvard University. He holds degrees from Harvard University, the University of Michigan and Wesleyan University. He joined the Department of Music at the U of A in the fall of 2014. 

Chelsea Hodge is director of grants and research innovation, where she helps honors students explore thesis topics, find research mentors and search for thesis committee members, as part of learning about and navigating the research process. In addition, Hodge administers the Honors College's research grants and helps coordinate the college's extensive study abroad grant program. Her teaching credits include honors sections of University Perspectives and small-group lab sections of the Honors Humanities Program. Hodge earned her B.M. in music performance (flute) summa cum laude in 2012. As an undergraduate, her honors research focused on music in Southern evangelical revivals, an interdisciplinary endeavor that led her to pursue a master's degree (completed 2014) and a doctoral degree (completed 2020) in history. Her current research examines the role of white, Southern Methodist women in issues of race, labor and poverty during the 1920s and 1930s.