CNNU campus correspondent Patrick Lee is a freshman at Yale University. CNNU is a feature that provides student perspectives on news and trends from colleges across the United States. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of CNN, its affiliates or the schools where the campus correspondents are based.

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- J.K. Rowling has retired Harry Potter, but the fictional boy wizard lives in on college classes across the country where the children's books are embraced as literary and academic texts.

Drawing on their expertise in theology, children's literature, globalization studies and even the history of witchcraft, professors have been able to use Harry Potter to attract crowds of students eager to take on a disciplined study of the books.

Danielle Tumminio, a Yale Divinity School graduate student and the instructor for Yale's Harry Potter course "Christian Theology and Harry Potter," said her academic background in literature and theology, combined with her personal interest in the books, inspired her to design the course.

The course uses all seven Potter books and the students examine Christian themes such as sin, evil and resurrection. 

"It was a struggle for me as I put the class together, because I knew if I didn't construct this really well ... that a lot of what I was doing would be missed or misconstrued. I certainly didn't want to come across as someone trying to indoctrinate my students," Tumminio said. "I also wanted to make it clear that it was a critical endeavor, and that it wasn't ... that you'd sit around all day talking about how great Luna Lovegood was."

The class was an immediate draw for students. Seventy-nine people showed up at the first session for the 18 open seats.

Although Yale's course is its first Harry Potter-themed offering, other universities, including Georgetown University, Liberty University, Pepperdine University, Stanford University, Lawrence University, Swarthmore and Kansas State University, also have integrated the series into their curricula.

Rowling's books are often analyzed in the context of other relevant texts, such as contemporary British fantasy or potential influences, including C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Philip Nel, author of "J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide" and professor of children's literature at Kansas State University, started teaching the books in 2002.

"Harry Potter is unfairly maligned simply because of the audience for which it is intended. Children's literature is literature, and if people don't agree with that definition, it's sort of hard to have a conversation with them," Nel said. "They see things that ... are easily accessible as therefore not serious and therefore not worthy of serious inquiry."

John Granger, author of "Looking for God in Harry Potter," argues that children's literature is the most important because it has the greatest formative impact.

"If you sit down with anybody now, almost of any age, if they are literate, they know Harry Potter. They know these stories," Granger said.

Among students, there is considerable diversity of opinion as to how the books ought to be read.

Cat Terrell, a student in Tumminio's course at Yale, said regardless of whether the books are worthy as literary texts, they have helped enhance her understanding of other academic disciplines, including theology.

"If somebody says this isn't worth a Yale class, I would say if we were just reading the Harry Potter books for their literary merit ... I would probably agree with them. [But] the lens of the Harry Potter books actually makes theology ... easier to understand," she said. "It's amazing how many connections you can draw between the theology that we're reading outside of class and the Harry Potter that we've known for 10 years."

Edmund Kern, author of "The Wisdom of Harry Potter" and professor at Lawrence University, was originally attracted to the books based on his training as a historian of early religion, magic and witchcraft. For him, the books' historical impact, rather than their literary context, makes for a more intriguing analysis.

"As a kind of global cultural phenomenon, Harry Potter in a sense is unprecedented. I think movies have been extremely popular around the world, I think that certain music has been extremely popular around the world, but never before has a single literary endeavor caught the attention of so many people," Kern said.

Erika Slaymaker, a student at Swarthmore where another Potter-themed class is offered, thinks the books hold the most significance as a cultural phenomenon.

"I'm not completely convinced that it is such a fabulous set of deep writing that it deserves to be in the Western canon," Slaymaker said. She said she considered taking Swarthmore's class, but ended up going for another first-year seminar called "Women and Popular Culture."

Regardless of academic arguments, the phenomenon of Harry Potter as a whole continues to elicit awe and wonder.

Lisa Lowe, professor of American Studies at Yale, has read all seven books not as a scholar, but as a parent.

"As an adult, you'll be thinking, 'What would Harry have done?'"

Rowling, of course, wrote a parable of sorts. The question is, which came first? The pheonix of the fire? So did Rowling write something that resembles a parable or did she write a parable that resembles a masterpiece?

She was quoted as saying "I'm a Scottish Christian. Those who know what my faith means know how the book will end." I thought of a scenario after talking to Chad this afternoon, that a Christian would go up to an Athiest and say "Do you realize what this means? That Harry Potter is a wonderful work, inspired by the Lord!" To which the athiest would advocate "Or the Bible is a wonderful piece of fiction, inspired by random inspiration."

Looking up the houses today, I saw the Gryffindor was elemental of fire. Fitting, about heat, warmth, hot-heads, etc. Hupplepuf was Earth. Ravenclaw was Air. Slytherin is Water.

Slytherin, i find the most interesting. I found myself having a wonderful conversation with two mormons on missionary work the other day. We talked for two hours. I found out that they were not allowed to go swimming or rest in a hot tub while on their 18 month mission. When i asked them why, they said that people of their faith believe that Lucifer can inhabit the water, and that they are open to attack while on their mission. It is simply a rule to remain safe. Later on, I read that Slytherin's house is under the lake.

Just some interesting observations, that's all.

Cole

I'm not sure how long this will be because it is a borrowed computer:

The thing that I appreciated from a writer's point of view was what Chad and I had talked about as artists. As artists of any sort (director/writer/anything) the most important rule about telling a story is that you have to be able to answer the question of "why?" at every moment. As in, "why did you choose to do this with the character?...why did you include this?" If you can't answer that, then you have a serious problem. No one can ever, rightfully, accuse you of doing a bad piece of work if you can always say "I'm glad you asked. Here's why."

That being said, this book, apart from being amazing, was beautiful just like every other. But what really stood out to me was her use of vocabulary. Rowling literally CHOSE every word that she wrote. Only Aunt Petunia would "bustle" out the door, for instance. The words were practically and onomotopia for the characters. Also, the maturity of the characters grew with the writing. Make out sessions, once crudely called snogging, finally became kissing. Screams that Harry was always so used to, suddenly "rent" through the air about four times in a chapter only after the great battle begins. It's as if Rowling had an arsenal of words waiting to jump onto the pages and she rode ahead calling "steady....STEADY.....CHARGE!!!! FOR HARRY!!!!!!" What a warrior of a writer. The scene is stolen as Mrs. Weasley's "Not my daughter you BITCH".

Rowling met with the main actors of the film to ensure that they don't act themselves into a corner, so that the audiences could justify what was to come. Specifically Dumbly and Snape. Daniel Radcliffe said "J.K.! Am I dying or WHAT?!" to which Rowling smirked, fantastically: "You have a death scene. Happy?" I mention this because these actors are damn lucky to have that forsight. My wonder is, exactly when did Rowling realize all of the beauty that was Snape? Riddle's diary being the Horcrux? Etc? I can only say either "Damn, she's got forsight" or "damn, she really worked that shit from behind." Either way, it was a triumph.

I found myself, as with every book that I truly adore, taking my time to soak in every detail, and heartbroken that it was over. As I turned to the last page, and my peripheral saw blankness halfway down, I was filled with dread. I can't stop, the end is approaching. I wanted her to go on...I don't even need a plot. Just describe the weather on the drive home, please. There's no need to leave this world.

From finishing the book at 2:30, I was up till five wondering what it was about that world that made me jealous. Sure, I wish I had magic. It'd be cool. But if I grew up with magic and everyone I knew could do the same thing, I wonder if I'd be as enamored. I tried to think of what I had that related to that world. And indeed, I have many magical abilities that, from outside of my mind, would make many a 22 year old jealous. I also found myself wanting a place like Hogwarts, and then realized, as I took a twighlight drive by the theatre department, I was a first year-graduate in an academic setting that I loved, loathed, and all around Harry Pottered for four years of my life. Harry Potter, I realized, was not escapism, but the opposite. Someone wonderful that we can relate to.

Favorite lines include, from memory:
-He was climbing a mountain that was more shadow that substance.
-his huge eyes, reflecting the stars that he could no longer see
-"If you wish to leave with your students, we will not stop you.  But if any of you attempt to sabotage our resistance or take up arms against us within this castle, then, Horace, we duel to kill."..."The time has come for the Slytherin House to decide upon it's loyalties. Go and wake your students, Horace!"

Okay, I looked up the last one.

Degest...and thank's Chad.

Personal thing...i hope to see ToledoGlassCityTalk some day, lol