History of Christmas R S 373 (43710)

Transcription

1 Semester: Fall 2016 Instructor: Brent Landau Time: TTH 9:30-11:00 Location: CBA History of Christmas R S 373 (43710) Description: This course will explore the evolution of the modern Christmas holiday, beginning with the birth stories of Jesus in the New Testament and concluding with the supposed War on Christmas that some recent commentators believe has sought to remove the Christian religious roots of the holiday. Topics to be addressed include: non-christian antecedents to and influences on Christmas; canonical and apocryphal stories about Jesus birth and childhood; the designation of Christmas on Dec. 25 th in the fourth century; the raucous and subversive character of early-modern Christmas celebrations and their suppression by the Puritans; the fixing of the current American version of Christmas in the nineteenth and twentieth century; the contemporary debate over the constitutionality of religious Christmas displays in public places. Students will also have the opportunity to select the content of two open class sessions. Instructor Information: address: bclandau@utexas.edu Office location: Burdine Hall 522 Office Hours: I will be available immediately after class ends to talk and answer any questions on a first-come, first-serve basis. My regular office hours will be Monday afternoons from 3:00-4:30. I am also willing to arrange for other times to meet if you are unable to attend regular office hours. Important UT Policies and Procedures Information: UGS Flags: This course carries the Ethics and Leadership Flag. Ethics and Leadership courses are designed to equip you with skills that are necessary for making ethical decisions in your adult and professional life. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments involving ethical issues and the process of applying ethical reasoning to real-life situations. Notice Regarding Academic Dishonesty: University of Texas Honor Code: The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community. 1

2 Plagiarism is unacceptable; it will have significant repercussions for your grade in my class, and I will report instances of plagiarism to the Office of the Dean of Students. If you are at all uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, please consult: Use of for Official Correspondence to Students: is recognized as an official mode of university correspondence; therefore, you are responsible for reading your for university and course-related information and announcements. You are responsible to keep the university informed about changes to your address. You should check your regularly and frequently I recommend daily, but at minimum every other day to stay current with university-related communications, some of which may be timecritical. You can find UT Austin s policies and instructions for updating your e- mail address at Documented Disability Statement: Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at (512) (voice) or (video phone) or reference SSD s website for more disability-related information: Faculty are not required to provide accommodations without an official accommodation letter from SSD. The SSD keeps any and all student information confidential. Resources for Learning & Life at UT Austin: The University of Texas has numerous resources for students to provide assistance and support for your learning. o Sanger Learning and Career Center: o Undergraduate Writing Center: o Counseling & Mental Health Center: o Career Exploration Center: o Student Emergency Services: Religious Holy Days: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence. 2

3 Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL): If you are worried about someone who is acting differently, you may use the Behavior Concerns Advice Line to discuss by phone your concerns about another individual s behavior. This service is provided through a partnership among the Office of the Dean of Students, the Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC), the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD). Call or visit Information About This Course: Learning Management System: UT uses a LMS called Canvas. As soon as the Canvas page for this course has been published, you will receive a notification inviting you to join. For more information about Canvas, including tutorials for students, please visit Student Response System: Squarecap is a web-based classroom tool (grown right here at UT!) that I have chosen to use in this course. This tool will be used during class to ask you survey questions and to verify your attendance. Squarecap is free until the 12th class day of the semester (Thursday, September 8 th for Fall 2016) after which a paid subscription is required to continue using it. You can purchase this from the Squarecap website ( using a valid credit/debit card or a PayPal account. The available plans are $8 for one semester, $12 for one year and $30 for four years, all for unlimited classes. For instructions on setting it up on your device, please refer to the handout distributed in class and posted on the Canvas site. We will also have personnel from Squarecap present in class on the first day that we use it (the second day of class, Tuesday, August 30) to ensure that it is working for everyone. Required Textbooks (abbreviations in parentheses): Bruce David Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History. University of California Press, (Forbes) Geza Vermes, The Nativity: History and Legend. Doubleday, (Vermes) Joseph F. Kelly, The Origins of Christmas. Liturgical Press, (Kelly) Brent Landau, Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men s Journey to Bethlehem. HarperCollins, (Landau) 1 Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas. Vintage, (Nissenbaum) Karal Ann Marling, Merry Christmas! Celebrating America s Greatest Holiday. Harvard University Press, (Marling) 1 Since I feel slightly uncomfortable making you buy my book (though, to be honest, it s really good), you also have the option of reading the translation in PDF format on Canvas. 3

4 A significant number of assigned readings will be available on Canvas in PDF format. Course Requirements: Consistent attendance (as measured by Squarecap) and careful reading of all assigned texts. Constructive participation in classroom discussions. Completion of two take-home exams of approximately 4-5 pages. Exam 1 will be distributed in class on Tuesday, September 20 and due to Canvas by Sunday, September 25 at 11:59PM. Exam 2 will be distributed in class on Tuesday, October 18 and due to Canvas by Sunday, October 23 at 11:59PM. These exams will include material from lectures, discussions, and assigned readings. A final research paper of approximately 8-10 pages that engages an issue of ethical significance (broadly construed) relating to the history and/or celebration of Christmas. The diverse range of media discussed in the course (written texts, motion pictures, music, visual art, material culture, etc.) makes imaginative approaches very welcome. More specific information about the requirements of the project will follow in the next several weeks. Your paper will be due to Canvas by Thursday, December 8 at 11:59PM. Grade Breakdown: Class Participation and Attendance: 25% Take-Home Exam 1: 20% Take-Home Exam 2: 20% Final Research Paper: 35% Schedule of Meetings: Thursday, August 25: Syllabus, Introductions, and the True Meaning of Christmas Part One: The Beginnings of Christmas Tuesday, August 30: How important was the birth of Jesus for the first Christians? Readings: Forbes 17-41; Vermes 39-51, Thursday, September 1: Comparing the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke Readings: Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 (excerpts from the Jewish Annotated New Testament Study Bible, PDF); Kelly 1-31 Tuesday, September 6: Problems of historicity in the Infancy Narratives Readings: Vermes Thursday, September 8: The doctrine of the Virgin Birth Readings: Vermes 52-75; Origen, Against Celsus (PDF); Protevangelium of James (PDF) 4

5 Tuesday, September 13: Apocryphal Infancy Gospels Readings: Kelly 33-54; Infancy Gospel of Thomas (PDF); Latin Infancy Gospel (PDF); Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (PDF) Thursday, September 15: Making sense of the Magi Readings: Kelly ; Landau (or translation of the Revelation of the Magi from my dissertation, available as PDF) Tuesday, September 20: Winter festivals and the fixing of the date of Jesus birth Readings: Forbes 3-13; Preston, Putting the Yule Back in Yuletide (PDF); Kelly **Take-Home Exam 1 Distributed in Class Part 2: Creating Christmas As We (that is, Americans) Know It Thursday, September 22: The Puritan War on Christmas Readings: Readings: Nissenbaum 3-48 **Take-Home Exam 1 Due to Canvas on Sunday, September 25 at 11:59PM Tuesday, September 27: Rethinking The Night Before Christmas Readings: Nissenbaum Thursday, September 29: The evolution of Santa Claus Readings: Readings: Forbes 69-96; Marling ; Pearse, Did Saint Nicholas of Myra/Santa Claus Punch Arius at the Council of Nicaea? ( Tuesday, October 4: OPEN DATE #1 (see explanation above in course description) Thursday, October 6: Why do people buy Christmas presents? Readings: Forbes ; Nissenbaum ; Marling 1-42 Tuesday, October 11: Christmas trees and other decorations Readings: Marling 43-81, Thursday, October 13: Christmas music Readings: Forbes ; Lankford, Sleigh Rides, Jingle Bells, and Silent Nights: A Cultural History of American Christmas Songs (excerpts on PDF); Heller, Christmas Carols: Why Do We Keep Singing Them? ( Tuesday, October 18: Christmas television specials Readings: Marling ; Lind, Christmas in the 1960s: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Religion, and the Conventions of the Television Genre (PDF) **Take-Home Exam 1 Distributed in Class 5

6 Part 3: Other People s Christmases Thursday, October 20: A Korean Christmas (guest lecture by Sung Soo Hong) Readings: TBA **Take-Home Exam 2 Due to Canvas on Sunday, October 23 at 11:59PM Tuesday, October 25: Taking a break: What about Halloween? Readings: Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (excerpts on PDF) Thursday, October 27: A Tejano/a Christmas (guest lecture by Katherine Sanchez) Readings: TBA Tuesday, November 1: Christmas in Japan Readings: Moeran and Skov, Cinderella Christmas: Kitsch, Consumerism, and Youth in Japan (PDF); Konagaya, The Christmas Cake: A Japanese Tradition of American Prosperity (PDF); Smith, Why Japan Is Obsessed with Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas ( Thursday, November 3: Hanukkah, Jewish Christmas, and Chrismukkah Readings: Plaut, A Kosher Christmas: Tis the Season to Be Jewish (excerpts on PDF) Part 4: The Ethics of Christmas Tuesday, November 8: The ethics of Santa Claus Readings: Johnson, Against the Santa Claus Lie: The Truth We Should Tell Our Children (PDF); Gavrielides, Lying to Children About Santa: Why It s Just Not Wrong (PDF); Deal and Waller, The Mind of Santa Claus and the Metaphors He Lives By (PDF); Hancuff and O Connor, Making a List, Checking It Twice: The Santa Claus Surveillance System (PDF); Brophy, Santa s Sweatshop: Elf Exploitation for Christmas (PDF) Thursday, November 10: OPEN DATE #2 (see explanation above in syllabus) Tuesday, November 15: Christmas as a celebration of consumerism Belk, A Child s Christmas in America: Santa Claus as Deity, Consumption as Religion (PDF); Horsley, Christmas: The Religion of Consumer Capitalism (PDF); Restad, A Frame of Mind: Christmas in the Twentieth Century (PDF); Forbes Thursday, November 17: The constitutionality of Christmas celebrations (guest lecture by H.W. Perry) Readings: TBA 6

7 Tuesday, November 29: The War on Christmas: Readings: Rycenga, Religious Controversies over Christmas (PDF); Olsen and Morgan, Happy Holidays: Creating Common Ground in the War on Christmas (PDF); Friedersdorf, Christmas is Kicking Ass in the War on Christmas ( Denvir, A Short History of the War on Christmas ( Tinsley, Don t Mess with Merry Christmas in Texas ( Thursday, December 1: Concluding Thoughts 7