MAGIE – Fairy Tales as Anchors for Shaping Individual Development
What is it about?
Fairy tales have shaped cultural values and child development for centuries. However, many classical versions reflect role models and messages that no longer align with contemporary perspectives on diversity, equality, and inclusion. At the same time, familiarity with many fairy tales is declining among children, particularly among boys. So far, little research has examined how modern and collaboratively adapted fairy tales influence children—especially in terms of language, emotions, social behavior, and parent–child relationships.MAGIE addresses this gap by developing contemporary fairy tales through a participatory process and scientifically evaluating their effects. The project brings together insights from developmental psychology, narrative research, AI-supported storytelling, and citizen science.
How can you participate?
Are you interested in fairy tales and would like to contribute creatively to a research project? Join our team with your ideas and skills. Citizen scientists are individuals without a formal research background who actively participate in scientific projects and contribute their experiences, perspectives, and competencies to the research process.In this project, you can collaborate with others who are passionate about fairy tales to further develop stories, design characters, and reflect on role models. You can decide how often and in what way you would like to participate. There is no obligation to attend all sessions.
The project is supported, among others, by the University Library of Zurich. Further information can be found on the project website.
Program
Download program flyer (in German)