Class Trip to the J.R.R. Tolkien Archives in Marquette, Wisconsin

– Njoki Mukuria 鈥25
In March 2025, 茄子视频 students enrolled in the spring class offering of Topics in English: Lord of the Rings went on a field trip to see the J.R.R. Tolkien archives at Raynor Library in Marquette, Wisconsin. This trip was organized by Prof. Timothy Hendrickson, Ph.D., associate professor of English and chair of the literature and languages department, motivated by the belief that 鈥渟tudents really appreciate getting out of the classroom鈥 as part of academic learning. The experience proved to be one of discovery, amazement, and education for the Trinity students.
According to Prof. Hendrickson, the trip was intended to provide valuable connections for both English and communications students because it was a class that counted toward both of these majors. He shared that this interdisciplinary approach came through in the Marquette archivist鈥檚 presentation, saying, 鈥溾嬧婤ill at Marquette knew that we were watching the movies, so he was able to kind of integrate some of that material into his presentation.鈥 Prof. Hendrickson also saw the visit as helpful in letting students see 鈥渢he textual history of particular books鈥 as artifacts鈥 because 鈥渨e鈥檙e not just talking about the story, we鈥檙e talking about the paper it鈥檚 on and the handwriting that the margin notes are written in,鈥 extending the experience offered by the English department.
Kait Harland 鈥25, an English major at Trinity from Byron, IL, shared that seeing Tolkien鈥檚 background work, specifically his detailed timeline, led her to reflect on how it mirrored her own childhood writing. She would have 鈥渟tacks of index cards calculating (based on Google maps) how long it would take to walk various distances to various places鈥 and was excited to note that Tolkien 鈥渆mployed such a similar strategy in his own writing.鈥 As an aspiring linguist, Kait was also enamored with the opportunity to hear about Tolkien鈥檚 鈥渓inguistic prowess鈥 from the archivist: 鈥淭olkien, a noted linguist, is obviously a fascinating figure to study because of this (amongst other reasons) and it was extremely cool to see the linguistics concepts I had been learning reflected in Tolkien’s work.鈥
With the topics class being composed of many students who are neither English nor communications majors, the archives visit had even greater cross-disciplinary value. Ren Amador 鈥26 of Chicago, IL, a graphic design major, said that what caught their attention were 鈥渢he jacket copy covers that Tolkien made鈥 because 鈥渁s someone with an interest in publication and an Art major, [they were] drawn to his designs鈥 and 鈥渄id not previously know that Tolkien was an artist as well as a linguist/author,鈥 allowing them to relate even more to Tolkien鈥檚 work. Ren was also glad to get an 鈥渦p close and personal鈥 view of 鈥渢he processes of archiving and what being an archivist includes鈥 because it proved to be an intriguing career position that they 鈥渨ould consider going into.鈥
The Marquette trip as a whole also seemed to foster community amongst the students by helping them connect with their classmates beyond the classroom, which was something that Prof. Hendrickson was happy to observe because of the benefit this has in the classroom. In his own words, 鈥淐lasses are better when students feel comfortable around each other and feel a sense of community鈥 people are more open with what they鈥檙e thinking.鈥
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