Utah State University professor of German Claudia Schwabe recently presented an Aggie Talks Event called "What Disney Didn’t Tell You — A Tour of the Original Grimm Fairy Tales." She says if you think you know Cinderella, Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, you should think again.
For most Americans, these stories feel like Disney inventions, but their true origins are far older, stranger, and more fascinating. Schwabe takes us on a journey back 200 years to discover the “original” fairy tales collected by two German brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. These tales were filled with sharp moral lessons, psychological terror, and bizarre magic. The Grimms’ world is a place where justice is brutal, the woods are truly terrifying, and “happily ever after” often comes with a dark price.
Schwabe is a USU professor of German and director of the Brothers Grimm Haus. She holds a Ph.D. in German studies from the University of Florida, a M.A. in teaching business education from Georgia College & State University, and two B.A.'s in international business administration from Germany and the United Kingdom. She has been teaching at USU since 2012. Prior to academia, she worked as an executive assistant for a German manufacturing company and as a high school teacher.
