Amy H. Sturgis earned her Ph.D. in intellectual
history from Vanderbilt University. In the field of political history she
has written two books and co-authored a third, and in the field of science
fiction/fantasy studies she has presented research with such organizations
as the Media Studies Working Group, the International Conference on Medievalism,
and the Mythopoeic Society. Her works have appeared in journals and magazines
such as Seventeenth Century, Reason, Winedark Sea, and The LockeSmith
Review, and she has contributed multiple articles to the popular Revolution
Science Fiction. Dr. Sturgis teaches science fiction/fantasy studies, media studies, and Native American studies at Belmont University, including the course "J.R.R. Tolkien in History, Political Thought, and Literature," and regularly teaches summer seminars at various colleges across the United States for the Institute for Humane Studies. She holds a seat on the Academic Advisory Board for The Market Center - Studies in Political and Economical Freedom in Denmark. Dr. Sturgis also serves as the co-founder and coordinator of the Lómelindi Smial of the Tolkien Society based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Under pseudonym, Dr. Sturgis has published several short stories and novellas in the fantasy and science fiction genres, and she currently is completing her first novel. She lives with her husband, Dr. Larry M. Hall, and their Boston terrier, The Shire's Virginia Lórien (a.k.a. simply "Virginia" or "The Hobbit"), on a small farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Dr.
Amy H. Sturgis will present her paper Harry Potter is a Hobbit: How J.R.R.
Tolkien put the Adult in Children's Literature, and she will participate
in the following panels at the Gathering: Teaching Tolkien at the University
Level, The Lord of the Rings - The Film vs. The Books, and The Women in
Middle-earth.