Spring 2027

An Introduction to Fairytales

Introduction to canonical and lesser-known fairytales within and outside Europe, exploring adaptation circles and shifting sociocultural values across time, cultures, and media.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

What you’ll be able to do

  • Trace the evolution of major fairy tales by beginning with familiar modern retellings (often Disney adaptations) and analyzing how earlier literary, oral, and cultural versions shaped them.

  • Identify and compare canonical and lesser-known fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and storytellers from diverse global traditions.

  • Contextualize fairy tales within their historical, social, political, and cultural settings, examining how these contexts inform their transformation over time.

  • Synthesize insights from theory, text, and film to construct original, evidence-based arguments about the enduring power and adaptability of the fairy-tale genre, and assess the connections between expressive performances and the wider workings of culture.

  • Critically assess modern reinterpretations of fairy tales across media, considering issues of gender, race, class, nation, and ideology.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades

No recorded grade history.

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
GNS 101

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records

No records available.

Student experience

the class

Introduces canonical and lesser-known works of the fairytale genre both within and outside of Europe. Explore tales as part of larger "circles," groups of adaptations over time, to trace how sociocultural values embedded in these stories change over time. In reading and viewing contemporary adaptations of these stories, consider how familiar formulas are reimagined across time, cultures, and media. Reflect on intersections of gender, race, disability, sexuality, religion, nature, and the family, and explore how these depictions are shaped by the national, cultural, and personal circumstance of their tellers and re-tellers.

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Canonical and lesser-known works of the fairytale genre within and outside Europe.
  • Tales as part of larger “circles” or groups of adaptations tracing changing sociocultural values.
  • Intersections of gender, race, disability, sexuality, religion, nature, and family in fairy tales.
  • Works by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and storytellers from diverse global traditions.

Skills

  • Trace the evolution of fairy tales from modern retellings to earlier literary, oral, and cultural versions.
  • Identify and compare canonical and lesser-known fairy tales from diverse global traditions.
  • Contextualize fairy tales within historical, social, political, and cultural settings.
  • Critically assess modern reinterpretations of fairy tales regarding gender, race, class, nation, and ideology.

Grades

Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

No grades available yet.

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
[]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

No records available.

Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "0810455021ca33ebb7726c1afe1482108b8be9bfb0383cd87d033f4ff4d35744",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}