Once upon a time there was a Professor named Amanda Allen, who worked at Eastern Michigan University in the Children’s Literature department. For those who saw her in the hallway or walked by her office, Allen seemed to be a fairly stereotypical “professor.”
She wore professional business clothing. Outside her office door were papers taped to the wall with her class schedule advertising a graduate level class she started teaching the Winter Semester of 2012. She seemed normal.
However, as Arundhati Roy said, “Another world is no only possible; she is on her way. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing.”
This quote, which is one of Allen’s favorites, relates to the professor’s life in that those who take the time to get to know Allen, find she is much more than she seems. Allen teaches Honors Harry Potter and her graduate level class is based on the Wizard of Oz. Within the walls of the Professor’s office is a bookshelf stacked with books of all colors and sizes. The inside of her door is covered with Harry Potter posters and two little plaques, one of Harry Potter and the other of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, sit on her desk.
These simple things prove that Professor Allen not only teaches children’s literature, but lives it. Professor Allen first became interested in children’s literature when she herself was a child.
“A lot was coming from my mother because she taught grades four and five,” Allen said. “So when I was in second grade, I would read the books that she was testing for the next years. Even more so came from dad. Growing up he read book to me. But instead of just reading it, we discussed symbolism. I was doing literary analysis at age eight. I can’t separate the two; analysis from reading.”
When Allen was in her teen years, she began to view children’s literature more for nostalgia while she explored more adult literature.
“I had a huge fixation on Edith Wharton ages fifteen-nineteen,” she said. “I read every novel [Edith Wharton] wrote.”
However, as Allen moved into adulthood, she found there was more to children’s literature than she had initially realized.
“Children’s lit. to me was just the [field] I was interested in,” Allen said. “It’s a very open field. There are a lot of things that seem very simple until you unpack them.”
Originally, though, Allen had no idea what to do with her love of literature and ability to find meaning in even the simplest book. Partially due to the fact that both of her parents taught, Allen went into teaching, a decision she has yet to regret.
“Teaching was something that worked out for me because I’m able to research what I love, and then share it with others,” she said.
Thus, Allen worked and got her Undergraduate and Master’s degrees from York University and her PhD at Alberta University.
As she completed on her PhD, Allen worked at Alberta University. Two years ago, she came to EMU.
“There’s only a couple universities in the country that have a Children’s Literature field,” Allen said. “Eastern was known as a pretty good school. There’s the added bonus of living in Michigan.
I kind of love this area. A lot of people tend to put down Detroit, but I’m learning to love it.”
When not teaching or exploring this new area where she lives, Allen likes to read. Three of her favorite books are: “The Seagulls Woke Me” by Mary Stolz, “A Swiftly Tilting Planet” by Madeline L’Engle and “Ballet Shoes” by Noel Streatfeild.
Though, Allen admits she’s rereading Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” (as she does every year). She said, “Each time I read it, I have a different impression. I’m really looking forward to reading it in my fifties so I can relate to Mrs. Dalloway. I want to compare that reading to when I read it in my twenties.”
And, of course, Allen also loves the Harry Potter series.
“I kind of came into it a weird way,” Allen said. “I saw the first couple movies, and when the fifth book came out my friend sort of forced me to read it. So I read it backward. I read the fifth, then the fourth, then the third and so on.”
By the time Allen came to EMU, the Harry Potter course had already been incorporated as part of EMU’s offered curriculum.
“I’m actually kind of jealous because a lot of students are part of the ‘Harry Potter Generation’,” Allen said. “Though, I did grow up in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer generation.”
When asked about her favorite quote from the Harry Potter series, Allen said, “Even though Dumbledore was problematic as a character, I liked his quotes to Harry. ‘It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live.’”
Professor Allen’s combination of intellectual analyst and thriving inner child is a unique and wonderful thing to find in a professor. Even if, at first glance, that professor seems like she could be as normal as one of the Dursleys.
