In F2011 Lorraine Janzen’s ENG 222 class, Fairy Tales and Fantasies, created a virtual exhibit in dialogue with the Osborne Collection’s exhibit at Toronto Public Library. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of J.M. Barrie’s iconic work of fiction, Peter Pan, both exhibits took “Peter Pan, Pirates, Mermaids, and Fairies” as their curatorial theme. Working in pairs, students selected a book from the Children’s Literature Archive and created a Digital Exhibit focusing on one of the thematic categories. Each Exhibit analyzed how their selected figure (Peter Pan, Pirates, Mermaids, or Fairies) was represented in the CLA book and included a historical context or popular culture comparator. Building an Exhibit with connections to the Osborne Collection’s contemporaneous Exhibit highlights the links between the activities of the university and our local community. The Digital Exhibit Assignment also gave students a real-world opportunity to share their knowledge of fairy tales as historically specific cultural artifacts whose meaning depends on their place, time, and medium of production.
Fairies
Fairies in Irish History and their role in The Story Of Childe Charity
Chloe Azimian, Amanda Polla
Female Dominance in a Fantasy World; Exploring the Fairy Hierarchy of Genders in Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
Rebecca Butcher, Jamie Minaker
Human values in the Scottish culture depicted in “The Fairy Washerwoman”
Michelle Gagne, Angie Wu
From “Donkey Skin” to Princess Kin: Representation of the Fairy Godmother
Andrew Held and Myles Berdock
Clara Judson’s Flower Fairies: An Eco-Critical Analysis
Megan Matsuda, Michelle Christodoulou
The Damsel in Distress to Leading Lady: Do Fairy Godmothers Really Help?
Candice McCrindle, Tara Wong
Mermaids
Gender Dichotomy in Grimms “The Golden Mermaid”
Neil Austen and Erin Graham
Preserving Canadian Culture and It’s Creatures of the Sea: Canadian Wonder Tales’ “The Mermaid of the Magdalenes”
Ellen Bateman, Stephanie Eiras
Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother: Undertaking The Same Mission In Different Forms
Andrea Chan, Madeline Li
Legends of Mermaids: Sexual Temptresses in *The Story of Peter Pan*
Alicia Chirrey, Mamta Patel
Andersen’s The Mermaid: A Tale of Female Sacrifice
Alison Haberstroh, Victoria Macdonald
Female Maturation in Andersen and Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”
Brandon Kates and Antonia Wales
The Demise of Mermen in Folklore; as Depicted in “Hans, the Mermaid’s Son”
Hye Eun Kim and Victoria Rose Regan
The Contemporary Mermaid vs. the Historical Mermaid
Danica Nelson, Veronica Porfilio
Mermaids: Exploring Gender Inequality in “Hans, the Mermaid’s Son”
Katherine Smyk, Mark Moliterni
The Transformation of The Little Mermaid
Emilia Turano and Larissa Fitzsimons
Peter Pan
Legends of Mermaids: Sexual Temptresses in *The Story of Peter Pan*
Alicia Chirrey, Mamta Patel
Pirates in Peter Pan: Examining the Categorization of Adults as the ‘Other’
Rebecca Freedman and Denielle Jackson
Men Who Never Grow Up: Peter Pan’s Influence on Storytellers
Meagan Kelly, Julia Lennox
Fantasy or Reality: Analyzing Pirates in Peter Pan
Ethan Krebs, Justin Levine
Peter Pan and Wendy: In the Classroom
Vajiha Sipra
Pirates
Sindbad as an Anti-Pirate?
Michael Drimba and Matthew Haddad
Pirates in Peter Pan: Examining the Categorization of Adults as the ‘Other’
Rebecca Freedman and Denielle Jackson
Pirates in The Peter Pan Picture Book and Morfar är Sjörövare
Chris Johnston, Gustav Berg
Fantasy or Reality: Analyzing Pirates in Peter Pan
Ethan Krebs, Justin Levine