USU Museum of Anthropology: What Big Eyes You Have

Guests at the next Saturdays at the Museum event at Utah State University will be immersed in the land of fairytales gathered by the Grimm brothers.

The “tales behind the tales” is the theme Saturday, Sept. 10, at the museum with special guest Lynne S. McNeill, a USU folklore professor and cofounder of the USU Folklore Society.

McNeill will present a lecture at 11 a.m. that focuses on the Grimm brothers and the background to their famous collection of stories, many based on longstanding folk traditions.

Other activities include creating storytelling masks and acting out some of the more famous Grimms’ tales, like The Little Red Riding Cap [Little Red Riding Hood]. In addition to the masks, guests can create their own storybook.

The brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhem, spent years traveling throughout Germany collecting the folklore of the area. In 1812 they published their findings in Kinder- und Hausmärchen, Children’s and Household Tales, and proceeded to write more books together and separately. The Grimm brothers continue to make their mark today in movies based on the stories they collected, like Cinderella, Snow White and Hansel and Gretel. The stories reflect the values and religion of the rural population of Germany and the Grimm brothers were among the first to stress the importance of writing the stories exactly how they were told.

Community members, as well as Utah State students, can visit the museum during its operating hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Funding for the Saturday events is provided by a grant from the United States Institute of Museum and Library Services. More information about the IMLS is available online.

The USU Museum of Anthropology is on the USU campus in the south turret of the historic Old Main building, Room 252. Admission is free. For this activity, the lot south of Old Main will be closed for maintenance. For the Sept. 10 activity, museum guests can park in Aggie Terrace.

For more information about this event, call museum staff at (435) 797-7545 or visit the museum website.

The Museum of Anthropology is part of the Anthropology Program at USU in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Related links:

• USU Anthropology Program 
• USU Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology
• USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Source: Museum of Anthropology

Contact: USU Museum of Anthropology, (435) 797-7545, anthro.museum@usu.edu