SOLD OUT!!
Please check out the regular version of the course by clicking here!
Once upon a time, a girl in red walked into the woods and tricked the wolf who would have consumed her.
Once upon a time, a mother escaped from a vampire skeleton after her foolish husband brought her to its lodge. She did this while holding her son in her arms.
Once upon a time, a Rani fought an army to its knees. Then she unchained the Raja who fought against her, buying lasting peace for her people with her mercy.
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There's a handful of fairy tales that we all know. Cinderella. Sleeping Beauty. Snow White. They're anthologized, retold, and reimagined over and over in film and books, fashion and advertising. And, to be clear, we love these stories.
But sometimes, it feels like they're the only fairy tales out there.
Even worse: it can feel like the only way to be a woman in a story is to be pretty, passive, polite. But the truth is - there are dozens, even hundreds, of fairy tales and folktales from all over the world that show us how many different ways there are to be a woman. And how many different paths a heroine can take on her journey.
In this course, we're returning to fairy tales with a vengeance. We'll explore tales from India, Venezuela, England, the Philippines, Nigeria, Japan, and Iraq, as well as indigenous stories from the US. Plus many, many more. All grounded in current fairy-tale scholarship and our unending passion for folklore.
Heroines can be clever, formidable, adventurous, and even unabashedly feminine - and win respect, recognition, and their own happily ever after.
If you're wondering why we're teaching this course (and why you should take it), here's what's up:
- We're fairy-tale scholars. We do a lot of other stuff, but this is our zone, our happy place, and the whole reason we decided to go to grad school to begin with. It's what we've written about, published on, and taught the most.
- Fairy tales matter. They matter profoundly - they shape the way we see the world and ourselves. And which fairy tales we read and see and retell matters. If we only ever see passive princesses, that tells our brains (and our culture) something about what kind of woman is worthy of being loved. If we think the only way a woman can be strong is to give her a sword, that tells us a lot about what traits and abilities are admirable and valuable.
- The truth is, when we see ourselves in stories, we see ourselves and the world more clearly, more hopefully. And diving into the archive of heroines from around the globe gives us so many more possibilities to imagine.
- Fairy tales rock. They're magical and inspirational. We love them. You love them. Let's read some!
SOLD OUT
We begin February 5th, 2022!
Please check out the regular version of the course by clicking here!
PLEASE NOTE:
For this course, we're asking you to purchase a book - Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World edited by Kathleen Ragan. We have choosen our stories from this book with care. Some will be familiar and some will likely be wholly new to you, but they are all worth examining. Prepare to be fascinated and delighted with tales from all over the world!
To participate in the Seminars, we'll be asking you to purchase/rent a few additional materials - the novel Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, the novella Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir, and at least the first episode of the anime Snow White with the Red Hair (2015-2016)
Interested in the Version of this Course without the 4 Additional Seminars?
Our Modules:
Each week of the course will feature a deep dive into one of these four topics
The Clever Heroine
February 9th
The clever heroine uses her wit, creativity, and insight to think her way out of problems and achieve her goals. Her intellect is the force she uses to elevate her family, save her skin, or rescue her husband from political intrigue.
The Formidable Heroine
February 16th
The formidable heroine wears her power on her sleeve, and all who see her know you don't mess with her without consequences. She can wield a blade and crush an army, catch a ghost, or create galaxies in the palm of her hand.
The Adventuring Heroine
February 23rd
The adventuring heroine leaves home to acquire riches, information, or what is rightfully hers. She can infiltrate a foreign land, steal from a giant, or even face down the queen of the fairies in a struggle of wills.
The Feminine Heroine
March 2nd
Being a worthy protagonist or heroine doesn't automatically mean "imitate men as closely as possible." In fact, some of our favorite heroines are unabashedly feminine women who can heal a splintered family with devotion, safely deliver a baby, or harness magic through dance and play.
What Are The 4 Additional Seminars?
The seminars in our last course were such a success (and so much fun) that we knew we'd be bringing them back occasionally. And since "Fairy-Tale Heroines" is our first deep-dive fairy-tale course in ages (and since fairy tales are THE BEST), we simply had to offer seminars this time!
This is completely optional. You can take the course without it (just click here!), and all the materials will still stand alone and make sense.
But we want to create a space that would function like a university seminar for this course, for a couple of reasons.
First, we want to talk specifically about contemporary fairy-tale retellings in this course, but there just isn't room in the lectures alone. The seminars give us additional course time to talk about these extra texts and bring in a contemporary perspective.
Second, we want to give YOU a chance to talk, beyond the chat during the live lectures or the Facebook group. This is your chance to ask us questions directly, share your thoughts and observations out loud with your classmates, and to experience the collaboration and community that we loved in our university seminars. We had the BEST time with our seminar students in Haunted Art last fall - seriously, they blew our minds weekly. And, if we're doing fairy tales, we had to make space for you to experience this kind of community magic again.
If you’ve ever wanted to go more in-depth at Carterhaugh - if you wanted even more scholarship and discussion and a chance to participate on a deeper level - this is for you.
Here's What's Included
- Four LIVE video lectures with us that you can participate in live or watch later, as you please, during which we'll talk about the week's readings and check in with you! Our lectures and discussions are college-level… but definitely not snooze fests! During these live talks, we'll support you two-on-one, answering questions and diving deep into how the readings can help you re-story your week. These lectures will air every Wednesday at 7PM ET via Crowdcast - February 9th, 16th, 23rd, and March 2nd ($200 Per Live Event = An $800 Value!)
- Four Additional LIVE video seminars with us that you can ALSO participate in live or watch later (though we highly recommend attending live for the best experience!), during which we'll talk about the week's longer additional readings in a college-style seminar course (see our longer description above!) The seminars will happen every Thursday at 7PM ET via Zoom - February 10th, 17th, 24th, and March 3rd ($200 Per Live Event = An $800 Value!)
- Discussion questions for learning and self-discovery - Even if you don't want to join the Facebook group, we'll make sure you have access to our discussion questions. These questions will help guide your reflections and determine how the folklore we discuss applies to your own journey and can help you achieve the results you’re looking for. (A $200 Value!)
- Four Grimoire Pages - We'll provide four of our beautiful grimoire pages, one for each of our modules. These pages are like custom notes for the course, and function as pretty awesome souvenirs as well! (A $15 Value!)
- Access to our private Facebook group just for members of "Fairy-Tale Heroines" - While participation in the course Facebook group is optional, it really is one of the best parts of the course. We have an amazing community of kind, creative, and very smart students, and the discussions that unfold in this space are always a delight and incredibly supportive. In fact, we learn new things from our students every time! (At LEAST a $600 Value... But Honestly? Priceless.)
That’s over $2400 in value… but you only pay $397!!
Your Teachers
We, Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman, are award-winning folklorists, teachers, and writers with a combined 26 years in higher education and over three dozen publications. Together, we founded The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, teaching creative souls how to re-enchant their lives through folklore and fairy tales. In 2019, Carterhaugh won the Dorothy Howard Award from the American Folklore Society.
When we aren’t teaching at Carterhaugh, we're scholars, writers and best friends who have published peer-reviewed articles, appeared on podcasts, sold stories and poems, written book introductions and encyclopedia entries, and written for magazines and blogs. (We’ve also been known to crush “Total Eclipse of the Heart” at karaoke.) We're regular writers for Enchanted Living Magazine, and we also deliver sold-out lectures at venues like the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the Profs & Pints series, the Maryland Renaissance Festival, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, and FaerieCon.
We love teaching. Our classes reflect the joy we get out of the strange and delightful world of folklore, so expect lots of gifs and terrible puns in our lectures. We'll occasionally make horrible faces at each other and laugh like drunken pixies… and we want you to join us!
Curious to see what our videos are like?
Check out this short clip from the first week of our course "Rapunzel's Circle I"!
[The audio/video quality is a little wonky - to get this clip onto this page, Brittany resorted to some very creative tech magic. You can expect clearer sound in our live lectures. In this clip, you can see us responding to our students in real-time. We're reading from the live chat that happens alongside each live video!]
FAQ
- "Um, what exactly IS Carterhaugh?" - The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic is an award-winning online school dedicated to classes on fairy tales, folklore, and all things fantastic. It was created by Sara and Brittany in 2016 as a place for those who dreamed of elven battles while studying economics, those who have always sworn they could see ghosts, and those who longed for a school of magic to send them an unexpected acceptance letter. We aim to use our knowledge and passion for these subjects to share their wonder, solidify their importance in society, and spread a bit of magic into the world. Want to know more? Check out our "About" page by clicking here!
- "When will I hear from you/get access to the first lesson?" - You will hear from us each week on Saturday, for 4 weeks, starting February 5th, 2022 - we generally get things out by noon, but sometimes there are evil technology fairies! Rest assured that we'll keep you updated if that happens though. We will send an e-mail and post in the private Facebook group! You'll also get our live video lectures each Wednesday of those 4 weeks at 7PM ET!
- "What if I can’t look at any of the materials that day / can't come to the live lecture?" - You do NOT have to watch the videos on any specific date – they are yours to view whenever is best for you! This is one of the many reasons why online courses work so well – they can fit everyone’s schedule :). The replays of each live lecture will remain up throughout the course, so you can catch up whenever you'd like!
- “I’m just a folklore fan. I don’t want to ruin my enjoyment with a bunch of academic stuff.” - We are the last people in the WORLD who would ruin your enjoyment of folklore and literature!! Believe us, we’re just as passionate about the beauty and wonder of these tales, and we know that part of that wonder lies in their mystery. We will never tell you what a tale “means." These tales are meant to be explored, meant to inspire personal meaning. We’ll give you folkloric history, and how the tales have been interpreted in the past, but we’ll never tell you what you “have to” believe about any folkloric story and we’re CERTAINLY not the kind of professors who are gleeful about “ruining” folklore for people!
- “Guys, I love this, but money is SO tight right now….” - We understand this feel so hard. Money is tight for so many. This is why we’ve made this 4 module course as affordable as possible AND packed in all the enchantment, stories, and community you crave right now. We're also offering three different payment plans (and an early bird deal!) to help you find an option that works. Our school is an investment, and it’s one that you deserve - we know our community and the magic we make together is worth it, and we would love for you to join us.
- “How involved are you guys? Is this just a thing where I get access to a bunch of stuff and then good luck?” - NOPE! We are 100% involved in our courses from start to finish. Our students always rave about how accessible we are, how quickly we respond, and how we make everyone feel welcome in our school. We’re always jumping in to answer questions and offer encouragement in our private course Facebook group, and we’re also available via e-mail anytime you need help with anything (or just want to share an insight privately with us!)
- “I hate Facebook. Do I HAVE to participate?” - The private Facebook group is really how the course community comes together. Discussion is incredibly active, people are always extraordinarily kind, and it’s seriously like no other discussion form we have ever seen. So while it is absolutely not required, it really does add to your enjoyment of the course if you participate there! We’ve had students make fake names just for our courses before though, so you don’t have to embrace all of Facebook to be a part of our private group! All of this said, if you really, really don’t want to be a part of Facebook in any way, you are free to simply enjoy the community in the live lectures, and talk to us one-on-one via e-mail if you have any questions, want to respond to discussion questions, or have any other thoughts you want to share!
- "Is this course only for women?" - Absolutely not! We welcome people of all genders to participate!
- "What if I hate this? Is there a refund policy?" - We truly believe in the magic of what we're offering, so we guarantee our courses. If you participate wholeheartedly in the first week, and if you do the work and honestly don't feel like you're getting any value from the experience, please write to [email protected] by midnight ET on February 11th, 2022 with your answers to the discussion questions to receive a full refund.
As always, if you have additional questions at any time, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected]!
Featured In:
Okay, time for some real talk
Our community - the students and friends and magic seekers that have found their way into our courses - have been the biggest surprise and the best part of Carterhaugh. It's not something we anticipated, but it's not an exaggeration to say that it's why we're still here, teaching courses online in a job that's better than anything we could have imagined. It's because of YOU.
If you want connection, if you want to hang out and learn in a low-key way with other wonderful people, this community is for you. If you love fairy tales, and you're looking for others who are enthusiastic, creative, imaginative, and kind, welcome home.
Carterhaugh grew from our love of fairy tales and our own friendship with each other. Carterhaugh is still here and thriving because of the what came after: our community.
Also?
We are feminists and disability scholars who support the LGBTQ+ community and believe that Black lives matter.
Period.
PLEASE NOTE:
For this course, we're asking you to purchase a book - Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World edited by Kathleen Ragan. We have choosen our stories from this book with care. Some will be familiar and some will likely be wholly new to you, but they are all worth examining. Prepare to be fascinated and delighted with tales from all over the world!
To participate in the Seminars, we'll be asking you to purchase/rent a few additional materials - the novel Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, the novella Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir, and at least the first episode of the anime Snow White with the Red Hair (2015-2016)
Interested in the Version of this Course without the 4 Additional Seminars?
If You've Read This Far...
If you've read this far, clearly something about our school resonates for you. You feel it in your spirit.
You can be the magical soul you want to be. Art and stories can help you get there.
Join us at Carterhaugh - you won't regret it.
