The official course description listed this as a class that studied fantasy literature.

DO NOT BE FOOLED.

The Course

This course was created in 2002, probably to tap off the hype of all the Harry Potter books, and at that point, film, that was circulating at the time. It was held only Term 1 that year, with , a course on Lord of the Rings, as its sister course (i.e., the course taught Term 2 by the same and TA). Since the sister course was undoubtably created because of the publicity of the film The Fellowship of the Ring, which was released the previous December, it is not too much of a stretch of logic to assume that Wonderwarts started the same way.

However, the next year Wonderwarts was extended to both terms, while was regulated to only one. The latter course has since disappeared, but Wonderwarts is now a staple of Davidson's course offerings and is likely to remain that way for some time.

Edit by Julianna: Wonderwarts will not be offered at Davidson 2009. 2008 Wonderwarts kids are concerned we scared the faculty.

Reminiscing

2003 Term II

The participants in the Wonderwarts class of 2003 term II were noted for their extremely cold bond, their Instructor/T.A. Laura/Lauren (actually one person who had been split into two), and the Women's Council. This was the class who created the infamous guinea pig song "I'm a Guinea Pig and that's o.k. I sleep all night and I eat all day. A magic ring got tied to my back, And I 'm not sure who I am or where I'm at."

The Wonderwarts class traveled in a pack, and the heaviest concentration of the class was Tracey's R.A.G. the only female R.A.G. on the first floor of Belk.

They were disgusted with plot devices like Gandalf the Grey, knew that Jack the Ripper was Lewis Carroll (it's true!), understood that the Beavers were the fiercest creatures in all of Narnia, had a frightening obsession with Harry Potter to the point of adopting names and attitudes of the characters, and were especially fond of Joey's Gollum impression. They also lived at Summit. For real.

Many Wonderwarts classes claim to possess the true majesty that Fantasy Literature inspires, but only the term II 2003 class exceeds expectations. From singing songs from Labyrinth, to chanting anything from Lord of the Rings, to introducing themselves as tree talkers, the 2003 Wonderwarters truly lived up to the words forever emblazoned on their Gryffindor colored t-shirts...

"WE'RE ALL MAD HERE!"

2005 Term 1

Escapades in this classroom this term included reading subtly incestuous poetry, acting out the part of a sarcastic talking Christian mushroom, drawing "fwoot twees with gwenades" on the whiteboard, acting out the part of Gollum with interesting results, debating the true Dark Lord in the room (Lena or Voldemort?), and watching David Bowie movies.

The participants of this class in Davidson Term 1 2005 have their own LiveJournal community, with some people from other classes as well, where a few of them still keep in touch. You can find it here.

Class instructors were Lauren and Emily, class mascots were Walker Smith and Lena, favorite drink from the Summit coffee shop was chocolate milkshake, and most hated word was allegory.

We must also mention "A Modest Proposal", by Jonathan Swift, where we discovered that the solution to world hunger is eating babies, and that we highly suggest that you stay away from the 1966 version of Alice in Wonderland. Far, far away from it. But you do need to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. We have learned from this class that the author is a pedophile. A very responsible pedophile, yes, but a pedophile nonetheless.

2006 Term I

We have a website located at freewebs.com/wonderhogs, as well as a forum with nearly 10,000 posts over the past 3 months (located at wonderhogs.proboards50.com). Lauren was the teacher with Stacy as an equally-powered Teacher Assistant. Along with inventing the mysterious game of Wonderbee, coming up with some of the most hilarious inside jokes of all time, barely any member of our group of Wonderhogs ever left the company of multiple other Wonderhogs. Some insanely awesome inside jokes include a certain person being tranquil, not morbid, a certian person having milk for breakfast, and a certain person thinking that babies are the rough equivalent of spandex in the 80s. Whether wearing turbans to dances, singing The Hogwarts song so loud that the whole campus is looking at you, or sitting in a Magic Circle discussing the finer aspects of the Wonderhog Jam Band, the Davidson, 2006, Term 1 Wonderhogs were the best evaaaaa!

2007

From Wonderland to Hogwarts 2007, Term II at Davidson was taught by instructor Justin Shanks (better known as J-Dawg) and TA Jae Haley (J-Kat). Famous (or infamous, rather) for his "Charlie the Unicorn" voice, J-Dawg was constantly badgered by his students to repeat "they stole my freakin'" kidney throughout the term, and as a result, the whole class would be doubled over in hysterics within seconds. He was also known for his green barley shirt which he wore on the first and last day of class. The class shared many inside jokes ranging from monks to unicorns to ballerinas to Mr. Rabbits to seizures and to Einstein. [edit] The Course

Most of the time, interesting discussions were held about parts or characters in the book and opinions were strongly expressed, even after everyone agreed. A lot of people enjoyed this and some even wanted to stay after evening study to continue class. During most breaks, games of ultimate frisbee took place amongst the class or occasionally with others. Wonderwarts played against Algebra I and lost in both games, but did not have their spirits crushed because they still knew that they were better than them. Temporary classroom rivalries were created but ended after a short period of time. As a result, J-Dawg periodically changed the teams around to prevent this from happening again. Sometimes, he was so kindhearted that he would play for both teams at once, although this usually just caused more competition. Although Harry Potter was part of the curriculum in "From Wonderland to Hogwarts," the Wonderwart students were not allowed to go to the midnight release. However, they were able to get their books for Saturday morning class to read at the coffee shop, just as long as they promised to give them back before they returned to the Davidson Campus to be received after Summerfest. "From Wonderland to Hogwarts" was simply the best course Duke TiP had to offer. The Wonderwarts loved their fellow Wonderwarts so much that class on the last day was difficult because everyone was passing around their address books to make sure they stayed in touch.

Quotes

• "They stole my freaking kidney."
• "Ice is cold."
• "La la la, la la la! Oh Mister Rabbit!"
• "It's RHIZORESCENT!"
• "I do NOT have ADD! (twitch) I swear! (twitch)"
• "Hmmm, I should make up an analogy about lipgloss..."
• "No, he's my BFF Jill!"
• "Hey Jae-Kat, is Einstein coming to the dance Saturday??"
• "What do the street lamps have to do with anything??"
• "Any Tattoos or Piercings?"
• "Tsk tsk, Cara Lynn's under the table again!"
• "Hey J-Dawg, it's 'tiptastic!'"

2008 Term 1

This year was taught by Melissa, but more infamously had a Northern Irish TA, David. He hated the class, in particular Kate Cline-Coke, who called him a hobbit. Memorable class members include Steven Hester (alternately known as Frodo and Leather Jacket Guy)and Thomas Remissong (known as Helen Keller). Thomas got his nickname from nervous diaherrea of the mouth on the first day. He was staring blankly at the pole outside of Chambers, and Julianna Laseter says very loudly, "YOU LOOK LIKE HELEN KELLER!". Unfortunately for him, the name stuck.

By the end of term, TA David was tired of trying to keep the class on track, so during evening study, the class logged onto YouTube, and watched the Potter Puppet Pals. The official movie of the class was the 1985 version of Alice in Wonderland, notable for a rapping, tap-dancing caterpillar.

This class was also noted for the drag day fiasco on the way back to class. Steven Hester, an active participant in drag day, was doing the bend and snap with his key to freak out the sports camp guys. He then did it for the campus security, who looked strangely at him for a minute. Then, all of a sudden, the security guard yelled, "WAIT A MINUTE! THAT'S A BOY! GET HIM!" and pulled an honest-to-God water gun to shoot him.