Muggles board for Reading at platform 9

A conference on Harry Potter will have fans waxing lyrical. But not all share their enthusiasm, says Harriet Swain

How far does the muggle world overlap with the wizarding world? What can wizards do that muggles can't? Ruth Roulston will explore these and other such issues in Muggle magic: Have they caught up with us? , one of the papers being presented at the UK's first Harry Potter conference, taking place at Reading University this month.

Roulston's potted conference biography describes her as a freelance writer from Florida who is "converting her home to conform to the Wizarding World's decor".

Also speaking at the conference is Steve Barfield, senior lecturer in English literature at Westminster University and an expert on the work of Samuel Beckett.

He will explore "the narrative trope of being the 'Chosen One'", drawing parallels between Harry Potter and narratives of psychosis and of prophets in religious discourse. Could the common roots of the three genres and the way author J.K. Rowling articulates them explain why readers identify with Harry?

The attendance of Barfield and other academics and PhD students from the UK, the US and Canada raises other questions: how far does the academic world overlap with the world of fandom? And, many people might ask, what are serious researchers doing joining such a forum?

Andrea Shutz, assistant professor in the department of English at St Thomas University in Canada, who will address "free will, destiny, contagion for animagi and werewolf", sees no intrinsic divide between fan and academic. "Every conference is a fan conference, and the best ones are those that showcase the participants' visceral enthusiasm," she says.

She claims that devotees of Rowling are special. "There is tremendous attention to detail and weighing of evidence," she says. "Fans are scholars in the best sense, whether they are academically trained or not."

Gwen Tarbox, associate professor of English at Western Michigan University, was drawn to Rowling's work by the "use of satire to point out social ills and her engagement with broad philosophical themes". She compares Rowling to Charles Dickens and argues that the literati dismiss the books because they are plot-driven. This autumn, she will teach a course titled English 5555, Rowling's Harry Potter , which was fully booked in the first week of registration.

For Barfield, it is this popularity that is of most academic interest. He admits that had he known the conference was going to be quite so fan-based he might have had second thoughts about taking part; he is not a particular fan of the books. But he argues that the Harry Potter phenomenon has transformed cultural studies and particularly the field of children's literature. He is also fascinated by the way Harry Potter has become a global brand.

But some feel academics should be spending their time discussing rather weightier issues of globalisation and inviting more serious reflections.

David Miller, professor of sociology at Strathclyde University, describes the notion of a Harry Potter conference as a "disgrace". He says that although as an academic he believes everything should be open to scrutiny, choices have to be made about what is important. "For me, the judgment is based on humanity - questions of human value and human suffering. Academics ought to pay attention to that because we are paid by the public purse to work in the public interest."

Accio 2005 will take place at Reading University, July 29-31.