According to a press release, the “Dark Arts and Other Wicked Ideas: Harry Potter, Banned Books and Intellectual Freedom” lecture will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. on Thursday in Witters Conference Room 4440 in honor of banned books week.

“Identifying certain ideas as dangerous – and therefore banned or otherwise restricted – is a perennial phenomenon, manifesting throughout every time and culture,” the Booth Library website said.

This phenomenon and intellectual freedom itself will be examined through the lens of the Harry Potter series during this lecture.

Ryan McDaniel, a communication studies professor, will offer some historical background and context for considering this theme in the Western cultural tradition.

According to the Booth Library website, the lecture will cover everything from the trial and execution of Socrates, to the Papal Index of Prohibited Books, to irreplaceable collections of Jewish books going up in flames during the Renaissance.

“Ryan will share a tale that, at times, can feel just as harrowing as the tale of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” the website said.

Michele McDaniel, a reference librarian, will then examine the problem of intellectual freedom in the Harry Potter series, book challenges in school and public libraries and the role of libraries in protecting intellectual freedom in the lecture.

Though this is their first academic partnership, Ryan and Michele have been partners in life for almost five years, according to the Booth Library website. The website said when they are not reading banned books and pursuing other academic interests, you can find them spending time with their two-and-a-half year old son, Killian.

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