From Wonderland to Hogwarts (Davidson)
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From Wonderland to Hogwarts
The official course description listed this as a class that studied fantasy literature.
DO NOT BE FOOLED.
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[edit] The Course
This course was created in 2002, probably to tap off the hype of all the Harry Potter books, and at that point, film, that was circulating at the time. It was held only Term 1 that year, with Fantasy Quest, a course on Lord of the Rings, as its sister course (i.e., the course taught Term 2 by the same Instructor and TA). Since the sister course was undoubtably created because of the publicity of the film The Fellowship of the Ring, which was released the previous December, it is not too much of a stretch of logic to assume that Wonderwarts started the same way.
However, the next year Wonderwarts was extended to both terms, while Fantasy Quest was regulated to only one. The latter course has since disappeared, but Wonderwarts is now a staple of Davidson's course offerings and is likely to remain that way for some time.
[edit] 2003 Term II
The participants in the Wonderwarts class of 2003 term II were noted for their extremely cold bond, their Instructor/T.A. Laura/Lauren (actually one person who had been split into two), and the Women's Council. This was the class who created the infamous guinea pig song "I'm a Guinea Pig and that's o.k. I sleep all night and I eat all day. A magic ring got tied to my back, And I 'm not sure who I am or where I'm at."
The Wonderwarts class traveled in a pack, and the heaviest concentration of the class was Tracey's R.A.G. the only female R.A.G. on the first floor of Belk.
They were disgusted with plot devices like Gandalf the Grey, knew that Jack the Ripper was Lewis Carroll (it's true!), understood that the Beavers were the fiercest creatures in all of Narnia, had a frightening obsession with Harry Potter to the point of adopting names and attitudes of the characters, and were especially fond of Joey's Gollum impression. They also lived at Summit. For real.
Many Wonderwarts classes claim to possess the true majesty that Fantasy Literature inspires, but only the term II 2003 class exceeds expectations. From singing songs from Labyrinth, to chanting anything from Lord of the Rings, to introducing themselves as tree talkers, the 2003 Wonderwarters truly lived up to the words forever emblazoned on their Gryffindor colored t-shirts...
"WE'RE ALL MAD HERE!"
[edit] 2005 Term 1
Escapades in this classroom this term included reading subtly incestuous poetry, acting out the part of a sarcastic talking Christian mushroom, drawing "fwoot twees with gwenades" on the whiteboard, acting out the part of Gollum with interesting results, debating the true Dark Lord in the room (Lena or Voldemort?), and watching David Bowie movies.
The participants of this class in Davidson Term 1 2005 have their own LiveJournal community, with some people from other classes as well, where a few of them still keep in touch. You can find it here.
Class instructors were Lauren and Emily, class mascots were Walker Smith and Lena Ziskin, favorite drink from the Summit coffee shop was chocolate milkshake, and most hated word was allegory.
We must also mention "A Modest Proposal", by Jonathan Swift, where we discovered that the solution to world hunger is eating babies, and that we highly suggest that you stay away from the 1966 version of Alice in Wonderland. Far, far away from it. But you do need to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. We have learned from this class that the author is a pedophile. A very responsible pedophile, yes, but a pedophile nonetheless.
[edit] 2006 Term I
Widely known as THE best Wonderland to Hogwarts group EVA, we have a website located at freewebs.com/wonderhogs, as well as a forum with nearly 10,000 posts over the past 3 months. (located at wonderhogs.proboards50.com). Lauren was the teacher with Stacy as an equally-powered Teacher Assistant. Along with inventing the mysterious game of Wonderbee, coming up with some of the most hilarious inside jokes of all time, barely any member of our group of Wonderhogs ever left the company of multiple other Wonderhogs. Some insanely awesome inside jokes include a certain person being tranquil, not morbid, a certian person having milk for breakfast, and a certain person thinking that babies are the rough equivalent of spandex in the 80s. Whether wearing turbans to dances, singing The Hogwarts song so loud that the whole campus is looking at you, or sitting in a Magic Circle discussing the finer aspects of the Wonderhog Jam Band, the Davidson, 2006, Term 1 Wonderhogs were the best evaaaaa!
