In our Ideas Matter segment we take time just about every week to check in with the state humanities councils in our 7-state region. Today we're talking with Maria Tatar, Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University.
She's written and translated several books on fairy tales, and she describes how seemingly simple stories like “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” challenge us to think a little harder as we try to decode the cultural contradictions in them. The Vermont Humanities Fall Conference “Why Do Stories Matter?” will take place November 13–14 at the Dudley Davis Center at the University of Vermont and our guest, Maria Tatar will participate.