Race and Gender in the Harry Potter Series

Fall 2020

I wrote this pair of essays in Meshell Sturgis' Race, Gender, & Sexuality in the Media class at the University of Washington, the second of which is being used as an example in the syllabus for future classes. The first installment explores racial ideology in the production of the series, specifically the formation of characters in the books and certain casting choices in the movies. The second focuses on gender within the content of the third book; it summarizes a study I designed and conducted to learn more about how female students and male students are treated by their teachers, and what messages that might send to the series' young readers.