Friday, May 19th Programming
Friday Programming GRID
Friday Programming Descriptions By Time
The Program Descriptions by Time follow this format:
Day, Time
Program Title
Moderators/Panelists
Location
Description
PROGRAMMING DESCRIPTIONS:
Friday, May 19, 2-5 PM
Kids on Brooms: A Hogwarts TTRPG
Septimus Blackwood (they/them)
Gunstock
Gunstock
Have you ever wanted to star in your very own adventure at Hogwarts? Join your fellow students as you deal with the mishaps and mayhems of the wizarding world in a 3-hour one-shot designed for up to 5 players. Open to anyone 13+, including those with no roleplaying experience. Spectators welcome as well. Character sheets will be pregenerated so session time can be dedicated to playing.
Friday, May 19, 2 PM
The Representation of Mental Processes in the Harry Potter Novels
David the Hufflepuff (he/his/him)
Blackstone
Things that happen inside our heads – our mental processes - are real. In the Harry Potter novels, the author has created magical objects and creatures which represent such processes. For example, depression is represented by dementors, irrational fears are represented by boggarts, daydreaming is represented by the Mirror of Erised, etc. From reading about such fictional creations, we can learn important truths about the real processes.
Friday, May 19, 3 PM
How to Stand When the Rug Gets Pulled
Dr. Patrick McCauley
Blackstone
Karen Wendling and I have run the Chestnut Hill College Harry Potter Academic Conference for eleven years. Everything changed for us that day that J. K. Rowling started to make comments about the trans community. We considered ending the conference. We didn’t. The people who have attended and contributed to the conference for over a decade now have established an academically legitimate space for open discussion. They convinced us that a conference was just what they needed.
Friday, May 19, 4 PM
Shoot the Canon: Reimagining (and Improving?) Harry Potter
Jill Staniec (she)
Blackstone
Have you ever wished you could change a plot point, reimagine a character or group of characters, change a setting, or make another change to the canon to build a better Harry Potter story? Take a shot at the board, propose a change, explore the consequences of that change, and then incorporate in the next crowd-sourced proposal. Collectively, we'll build a reimagined (and hopefully improved!) Harry Potter canon. Don't throw away your shot!
Friday, May 19, 5 PM
Wizard Rock Sing-Along [MOVED TO SATURDAY MAY 20, 4 PM]
Eustacy “Stace” Santiago (they/them)
Outdoors by the campfire
Join wizard rock bands and fans for a campfire-style sing-along. Bring your voices, ukuleles, kazoos, percussions, guitars, or any other acoustic instrument and prepare to perform as a collective, or just watch and clap along. We'll play a predetermined set of old wrock favorites and new tunes. Check the list (complete with lyrics, chords, and links) and learn the songs ahead of time, or just show up and jam.
[MOVED TO SATURDAY MAY 20, 4 PM]
Friday, May 19, 11 PM
Sex Scenes: How (and Why) to Write Them
Cecilia Tan (all pronouns fine)
Blackstone
If a hallmark of strong fiction is three-dimensional “complete” characters, then why should a character’s sex life be left off the page? Maybe it shouldn’t! A sex scene doesn’t have to be prurient, but it can illuminate a character or a relationship in ways that another scene couldn’t. Often, it’s the “missing piece” of a characterization or plot, but we may have been so trained to always keep sexual elements off the page or behind closed doors that as writers we don’t even realize it’s missing. (Readers, on the other hand, especially those raised on fanfic, will know right away when sex is the missing element!)
In this workshop, we’ll explore the narrative language of sex and sexuality, identify and unpack sexual tropes, and go over ways to move past societal fears about talking about or showing sex in our fiction. The sex scene should ultimately be one of the colors available on the fiction writer’s palette, even if only sparingly used.
Saturday, May 20, 12 midnight (Friday night)
The Restricted Section: A Literary Salon Hosted by The Quill Society
Eustacy “Stace” Santiago (they/them)
Blackstone
At this literary salon, let us regale you with fiction of the explicit variety. Connoisseurs of erotica and “mature” fic will be treated to a rousing live reading of selected works from the MISTI-Con AO3 Fanfiction Collection as well as original writings by community authors. Writer and fanfiction coordinator Eustacy “Stace” Santiago will finish you off, so to speak, with a spicy teaser from their novel-in-progress, The Quill Society. Mature adults (18+) are welcome.