But twenty others did, and the Tolkien course has continued at Illinois Central College since then, with the exception of four years at the end of the last century when it was cast into darkness and doom by a Balrog dean...
The principal advantage of a course centered on Tolkien, as opposed to, say, Shakespeare, is that many students have read all the author's major works... Michael Alan Foster was educated at Spalding High School, Peoria, IL.
He obtained his first degree in Arts at Marquette University in 1968, and that year became a teacher at Spalding High School.
[5] This represented what in the context of sceptical attitudes was "a rare success" in the early history of Tolkien research;[6] Foster later documented his teaching approach on the course in "an appropriately anecdotal piece".
[6][2] Foster has published many papers and book reviews on English fantasy literature, including on the Inklings Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and George Sayer, as well as on J. M. Barrie and G. K.