Happy May the 4th!

Happy Star Wars Day! I think the saga has so much teaching potential, from learning about political theory to the development of myths. Even what we might call the lesser installments have something important to teach us–or they at least reflect us back to ourselves as all pop culture does. For this May the 4th, I thought we would look at some of the past posts about a galaxy far, far away.

A Primer on the Politics of Star Wars

Find out how Star Wars teaches us about the state of exception and the nature of tyranny. The little moment when Padme becomes aghast at the “thunderous applause” at the death of democracy is something we need to think about for ourselves.

Master Yoda’s Pedagogy

Want to teach like a Jedi Master? In this post, I explore how Yoda’s pedagogy can inform our own classroom practices. This post was written before The Last Jedi, but I have to say that my favorite part of the movie was the little pedagogical moment Yoda and Luke had.

He went from this:

To this:

Old Man Solo

As soon as the trailers suggested that Han was the sage figure in The Force Awakens, I began to worry about his fate. In this post, we look at what it means to fill that mentor role and compare Han with Obi-Wan and Gandalf.

Han’s death felt different for me, but it will probably feel the same as Obi-Wan or Gandalf’s to my daughter who is growing up with Rey as her hero instead of Luke.

And Now for Something a Little More Serious

Or why it’s a good thing that Anakin doesn’t meet our expectations in the prequels. That’s right–I defend the lameness of the Chosen One as an accurate portrayal of evil.

Heroism of the Little Moments

Throwing away a lightsaber is the most important act in Luke’s life.

Star Wars Visual Poetry

Pablo Fernández Eyre has a wonderful video on the resonance between different episodes. I hope he updates it with the new movies. Johnson and Abrams have added so many more chiming scenes, though for slightly different purposes as they approach the past and nostalgia in different ways.