A recent CNN story revealed that courses about the fictional boy wizard are currently being taught at such highly-regarded universities as Yale, Stanford and Georgetown. Philip Nel, author of "J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Novels: A Reader’s Guide," started teaching the books at Kansas State University in 2002, and the Potter books have also made it into the curriculum of an institution in the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, Lawrence University.

There, the course is taught by Edmund Kern, author of "The Wisdom of Harry Potter."

"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," said Kern.

Asked to comment on the phenomenon, Monmouth College English professor Mark Willhardt told the following story:

"Not two weeks ago, I was talking about ‘the canon’ in my Introduction to English Studies class. We put books that were ‘popular’ up on the board – Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks, John Grisham were a few of the names – and talked about why they might not be seen as ‘classics.’ We put J.K. Rowlings up on the board under ‘popular’ and immediately students started looking harder at that one than any of the others."

Willhardt said that many students made the case that the Potter books already were classics – classic children’s books. The more they talked, however, the more they realized that the themes, especially in the later books, were very adult.

"That got them thinking about what makes a classic a classic in the first place, and ‘maturity’ seemed to be a factor," said Willhardt. "The more the ‘Harry Potter’ books are perceived as not simply adolescent literature – but rather as theology, or sociology, or even history – the more likely they are to become enshrined in the classroom, and thus to be understood as ‘classics,’ something more valuable than even their record-setting sales."

Associate professor Anne Mamary, who teaches in the philosophy and religious studies department and co-directed a Potter-themed honors project two years ago with Willhardt, agrees that maturity is a factor when discussing the relevance of the series.

"One of the remarkable things about the series, I think, is that each book is more sophisticated than the one before it, so readers can ‘grow up’ with Harry and his friends," she said. "The books can be read as adventure stories, and they are certainly filled with adventure, thrills, and fun and laughter. They are great for adults, because they are filled with clever references and plays on words, and also because they can be read as philosophical or political allegories."

A big fan of the series, Mamary said she has thought about putting together a Harry Potter course.

"I am hopeful that as children and adults alike read the books, we might all ‘grow up’ with them in the sense of becoming more aware of how we live," she said. "Will we see people becoming less self-centered and more concerned about standing up to tyrants, less concerned with personal gain and glory and more able to practice the deepest form of magic: love? There is so much in the series that speaks to our ‘Muggle’ world, but sometimes I think it is hard for people to think allegorically and to transfer lessons from much-loved books into our ‘real lives.’ Maybe the Harry Potter books could bridge that gap?"

Concluded Willhardt, "Of all the books I might mention from a typical high school reading curriculum, none resonates so widely as the ‘Harry Potter’ series. Students who love to read have read them; students who don’t love to read have read them. If you’re a teacher and trying to reach the greatest number of students, you could do worse than basing a discussion or two around Potter and his adventures."