{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Tom Cox on an Epic Education: Tolkien in the Middle School","description":"To prepare for Homer, Virgil, Beowulf, the Eddas, and Dante\u2014The Heights begins with Tolkien. In a talk from 2016, former middle school core teacher and current upper school classics teacher Tom Cox defends the place of J. R. R. Tolkien\u2019s The Lord of the Rings in the epic tradition. He then explains why Middle Earth is so uniquely suited to the middle school, using Samwise the Stouthearted as our guide to the heart of a middle school boy. Chapters: 2:46 Rethinking \u201cthe middle\u201d 4:01 How LotR prepares boys for upper school 7:57 How LotR meets boys in middle school 12:47 Contrasted with other epics 14:41 Samwise as a middle school model 24:47 Tolkien\u2019s lessons for teachers and parents 26:07 Samwise the Stouthearted: earning his epic epithet 31:18 \u201cBear one another\u2019s burdens, fulfill the law of Christ\u201d Links: The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien The Iliad by Homer, prose translation by A. S. Kline Plutarch Podcast by Tom Cox Becoming Greece, textbook by Bill Dardis and Tom Cox Becoming Rome, textbook by Bill Dardis and Tom Cox Also on the Forum: The Forum Faculty Podcast hosted by Tom Cox The Hope of Hobbits and the Despair of Denethor by Tom Cox Featured Opportunities: The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (January 7-9, 2026 \/ May 6-8, 2026) ","author_name":"HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive","author_url":"https:\/\/heights.edu\/heightscast\/","html":"