Harvard Humanist Hub Reads Harry Potter Like the Bible

Assistant Chaplain Vanessa M. Zoltan speaks to a discussion facilitator about the Weasley twins in“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” during a meeting of the Humanist Hub discussion group “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text”. GRACE Z. LI

By MADELEINE L. LAPUERTA and LUCY WANG, CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
a day ago

Harry Potter may not be divinely inspired, but for a group of Harvard students and Cambridge residents, that has not stopped them from treating the work like the bible.

Every week, members of Harvard Square’s Humanist Hub gather to analyze J.K. Rowling’s famous series while searching for life lessons. Their discussion group has proved very popular, and spawned a podcast—”Harry Potter and the Sacred Text”—that has reached as high as number two on Apple’s iTunes podcast chart.

The group has been meeting since September of 2015, and has attracted a mix of locals and students who proudly identify as “nerds.” One of the group’s organizers, Divinity student Ariana N. Nedelman, said Harry Potter’s strong following made the book well-suited as a centerpiece for discussion.

“The fan community surrounding Harry Potter is uniquely supporting and loving, and brings their lives into the text,” Nedelman said. “So there was already a potential for this kind of work in the way that people were relating to the book that just needed to be tapped.”

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/9/22/humanist-hub-reads-Harry-Potter/

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