At Carterhaugh, we TRULY BELIEVE that you don’t need a magical portal to Narnia in your wardrobe, or a letter delivered by an owl, or fairies to kidnap you for you to have the incredible, magical life you’ve always dreamed of.

You’ve haven’t missed any secret door or special sign - YOU are the magic you’ve been waiting for.


But when the world falls apart, that can feel like the furthest thing from the truth. In this new weird and scary time we’re all experiencing, you might just want to curl up in your PJs, stare at the wall, and maybe scroll through the news endlessly on your phone, heart hurting for all the things you can’t do, all the people you can’t help. That doesn’t feel magical at all. So much is uncertain, but the one certainty is that our lives have changed drastically. The world is completely altered from anything we personally have ever known.


We know you're hurting - from anxiety, from exhaustion, from boredom, from a whole noxious brew of worries. We know that some of you are doctors and nurses, working so hard to take care of us. Some of you are keeping food on the shelves in our grocery stores, and you are actual angels. Some of you are trying to juggle children who are suddenly home and work that is relentless. Most all of us are feeling cut off and alone.


We had all kinds of plans for this spring but, like the rest of the world, we've largely scrapped them in order to come up with something that will work RIGHT NOW.

And so we are opening the doors to

RAPUNZEL'S CIRCLE: FINDING ENCHANTMENT UNDER QUARANTINE.

This course draws deeply on folklore and fairy tales to help you weather the storm. Our mission is to re-story you, to connect you to the community and combat loneliness, to inspire you creatively, and to help calm your restless mind.

The course opens on April 27th, 2020!


This course is closed for enrollment.

Interested in purchasing a spot in Rapunzel's Circle for a loved one?

E-mail us at [email protected] for more information

(and a 50% off coupon for you if you'd like to enroll as well!)

Here's What We'll Be Teaching!


Week 1: The Tower


Towers are nothing new to fairy-tale heroines. Neither is incredible ingenuity or an eventual escape.

April 27th, 2020

Week 2: The Dark Woods


The dark woods can feel endless, like you'll never find a way through. Fairy tales tell us there is always a path back into the sun.

May 4th, 2020

Week 3: The Spinning Room


Sometimes, making something is the last thing you want to do. Sometimes, you do it anyway. And sometimes, productivity can take a long walk off a short pier. (It's true - just ask the Miller's Daughter.)

May 11th, 2020

Week 4: The Courtyard


Connection can be a real challenge now, with tempers fraying and personal space shrinking. (Beauty has been there, many times.) Compassion can help tame anxiety and forge connections, with others and yourself.

May 18th, 2020

Quests


Every week will feature a new quest for enchantment to do while social distancing...

Fairy-Tale Incantations


... and a "fairy-tale" incantation to help you focus your energy and get the most out of the course

Here's What's Included:


Because we ourselves are under self-isolation at the moment, with Brittany in Virginia and Sara in Georgia, we're going to run this course a little differently than we have in the past. In fact, we're going to provide you with more live support than we ever have before! Instead of pre-recorded lectures, we'll be beaming into your computer every week with a new live lecture, during which we'll answer questions and chat with you. (The course materials will go live on Mondays and the live lectures will take place through the Crowdcast system on the following Wednesday evenings at 7PM. You'll also be able to watch them at a later time, if you're not free when we're streaming live!) As always, we'll have our wonderful private Facebook group for the course, but we'll also be doing Facebook Lives at least twice a week, answering questions, reading stories, and talking with you about the challenges you faced over the week.


You Will Receive:


  • 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 one-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 via Crowdcast. ($200 Per Live Event = An $800 Value!)


  • All course readings as PDFs and/or Links - We always include ways to access the stories that star in our lectures, and we choose our stories 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 in this CUSTOM collection made specifically for this course! (A $15 Value!)


  • Four beautifully designed and EXCLUSIVE "fairy-tale incantation" pages - our usual grimoire pages weren't quite right for this particular course, so, instead, you'll receive printable PDF sheets that will be perfect for keeping each week's fairy-tale incantation front and center! (A $15 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. Plus, if you send your responses to us, we always reply with personal notes and feedback! (A $200 Value!)


  • Access to our private Facebook group just for members of Rapunzel's Circle - 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! Plus, this is a great way to get contact with the outside world, whether you are feeling really isolated or you just really need to talk to someone who isn’t in your immediate household. (A $600 Value!)


That’s over $1600 in value… but you only pay $147!!

This course is, above all, about community. It is about coming together during a time of crisis and loneliness to meet with other, like-minded folk and form a space where compassion is alive and magic is still afoot. Your spark hasn’t gone out - we will find it together.

Your Teachers:


We, Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman, both earned our PhDs in English and Folklore at The Ohio State University. We specialize in folk narrative – folk tales, myths, and legends – and fairy tales, especially the creepy ones, are our passion. We have published academic articles and reviews in Marvels & Tales: The Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, Supernatural Studies, Humanities, Gramarye: The Journal of the Sussex Center for Folklore, Fairy Tales, and Fantasy, the book Channeling Wonder: Fairy Tales on Television, the encyclopedia Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from Around the World, and many more. 

We love teaching – we get to geek out about the weirdest, most wonderful stories, and we get to watch our students create their own magic with what they learn. We want our classes to reflect the joy we get out of the strange and delightful world of folklore, so expect apropos gifs, ridiculous illustrations, and/or terrible puns in our lectures. We’re also best friends, so we will occasionally make horrible faces at each other, make fun of each other, and laugh like drunken pixies… and we want you to join us!

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.


  • "When will I hear from you/get access to the lesson?" - You will hear from us each week on Monday, for 4 weeks, starting April 27th, 2020 - we try to 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.


  • "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 play with the materials 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 :). And the replays of each live lecture will remain up too, so you can catch up whenever you'd like!


  • “I’m trying to work from home, my kids are out of school and bored all the time, and I’m walking my dog like ten times a day to keep from losing my mind - I don’t have time for a course!” - We totally get this, everyone’s lives have been turned completely upside down right now! That’s why we’ve tried our best to make Rapunzel’s Circle a haven, not a burden. There are no complicated assignments or long readings here, there are no huge projects (unless you want to make them bigger, which is totally fine!) We want this to be a space where you can reconnect to the magic inside you whether you have 10 minutes a day or 2 hours a day to devote to it.


  • “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 fairy tales!! 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” or anything like that. 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” fairy tales 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 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.


  • “Can’t I find all these stories online for free?” - We get it: there is SO much free stuff online for you to peruse at your leisure - articles, and stories, and folkloric material of all kinds. And it’s wonderful to have so much information at our fingertips! But here’s the thing: a lot of it is just terrible or sprinkled around haphazardly. Do you want to have to hunt down everything yourself and weed out the bad information, or would you rather have some fairy godmothers shepherd you through? We really are experts in this (PhDs ain’t just pieces of paper!), and we know exactly how to navigate the trove of stories and information, how to make connections, and how to show you unexpected gems you would never have even thought to look up. Plus, one of the most amazing things about Carterhaugh is the community that grows up around our courses, which leads to even MORE connections and resources - reading a questionable website, all alone, is a universe away from a bustling, thriving, magical school where you can share your ideas with kindred spirits and insight from professors who have your back.


  • “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 work through the materials on your own 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!


  • "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 on May 3rd, 2020 with your answers to the reflection 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]!


Open your mind to tales and your heart to magic. The gates of Carterhaugh are open!


This course is closed for enrollment.

Interested in purchasing a spot in Rapunzel's Circle for a loved one?

E-mail us at [email protected] for more information

(and a 50% off coupon for you if you'd like to enroll as well!)