Richard C. Burke is an English professor at Lynchburg College in Virginia and spoke at Nimbus 2003: A Harry Potter Symposium on “Lord Voldemort’s Gift for Spreading Discord & Enmity: The Rise of Evil in Harry Potter.”

Lana A. Whited is professor of English and journalism at Ferrum College in Ferrum, Va., and editor of The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon (University of Missouri, 2002). She co-authored a chapter on moral issues.

Peter Appelbaum, an associate professor of education at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa., wrote the chapter “Magic, Technoculture, and Becoming Human” for Harry Potter’s World: Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives (Routledge; 2003).

David Baggett, professor of philosophy at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., co-edited Harry Potter and Philosophy.

W. Christopher Stewart works at Templeton Religion Trust as its Vice President of Grant Programs.He is on leave of absence from teaching philosophy at Houghton College in Houghton, N.Y., and co-authored, with Houghton colleague Ben Lipscomb, a chapter for Harry Potter and Philosophy. 

Tom Morris, a philosopher, author and president of the Morris Institute for Human Values in Wilmington, N.C., contributed a chapter to a book on philosophy and Harry Potter from Open Court Publishing. Morris’ chapter concerns courage. Morris’ books include If Aristotle Ran General Motors (Henry Holt & Co., 1998) and Philosophy for Dummies (For Dummies, 1999).

Penny Linsenmayer of Houston, Texas, helped organize Nimbus 2003, the first international symposium about Harry Potter, held in July 2003. Linsenmayer founded the Harry Potter for Grownups Internet discussion group, which has nearly 7,000 members.

The Rev. Francis Bridger is dean of the Diocese of Brechin in Scotland. He was formerly ecclesiastical professor of Anglican studies and executive director of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. He is the author of A Charmed Life: The Spirituality of Potterworld.

Read a Nov. 5, 2010, article from The New Yorker providing an overview of how religious groups have reacted to the Harry Potter series.