History of R S 373 (43340)

Semester: Fall 2018 Instructor: Brent Landau

Description: This course will explore the evolution of the modern Christmas holiday, beginning with the birth stories of 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. 25th 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.

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.

• 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: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/learningmodules/plagiarism.

Use of E-Mail for Official Correspondence to Students: • E-mail is recognized as an official mode of university correspondence; therefore, you are responsible for reading your e-mail for university and course-related information and announcements. You are responsible to keep the university

1 informed about changes to your e-mail address. You should check your e-mail regularly and frequently—I recommend daily, but at minimum every other day—to stay current with university-related communications, some of which may be time- critical. You can find UT Austin’s policies and instructions for updating your e- mail address at http://utmail.utexas.edu/

Documented Disability Statement: • Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at (512) 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329-3986 (video phone) or reference SSD’s website for more disability-related information: http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/for_cstudents.php. 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: http://lifelearning.utexas.edu/

o Undergraduate Writing Center: http://uwc.utexas.edu/

o Counseling & Mental Health Center: http://cmhc.utexas.edu/

o Career Exploration Center: http://www.utexas.edu/student/careercenter/

o Student Emergency Services: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/emergency/ 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.

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 512-232-5050 or visit http://www.utexas.edu/safety/bcal.

Information About This Course:

2 Learning Management System: • UT uses a LMS called Canvas. For more information about Canvas, including tutorials for students, please visit http://canvas.utexas.edu.

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 (Friday, September 14th for Fall 2018) after which a paid subscription is required to continue using it. You can purchase this from the Squarecap website (www.squarecap.com) using a valid credit/debit card or a PayPal account. The available plans are $12 for one semester, $18 for one year and $50 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 to ensure that it is working for everyone.

Required Textbooks (abbreviations in parentheses): • Bruce David Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History. University of California Press, 2007. (Forbes) • Joseph F. Kelly, The Origins of Christmas. Liturgical Press, 2004. (Kelly) • Brent Landau, Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men’s Journey to . HarperCollins, 2010. (Landau)1 • Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas. Vintage, 1997. (Nissenbaum) • A significant number of assigned readings will be available on Canvas in PDF format, including two books: Geza Vermes, The Nativity: History and Legend. Doubleday, 2006 (Vermes); and Karal Ann Marling, Merry Christmas! Celebrating America’s Greatest Holiday. Harvard University Press, 2001 (Marling).

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 Friday, September 28 and due to Canvas by Monday, October 1 at 11:59PM. Exam 2 will be distributed in class on Friday, November 16 and due to Canvas by Monday, November 19 at 11:59PM. These exams will include material from lectures, discussions, and assigned readings.

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 • 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 Wednesday, 19 at 11:59PM.

Grade Breakdown: • Class Participation and Attendance: 25% • Take-Home Exam 1: 20% • Take-Home Exam 2: 20% • Final Research Paper: 35% Tentative Schedule of Meetings:

Wednesday, August 29: The True Meaning of Christmas

Part One: The Beginnings of Christmas

Friday, August 31: Syllabus Overview and Introductions

Monday, September 3: LABOR DAY, NO CLASS

Wednesday, September 5: How Important Was the Birth of Jesus for the First Christians? Readings: Kelly 1-10

Friday, September 7: The Infancy Narrative of the Gospel of Matthew Readings: Matthew 1-2 (excerpt from the Jewish Annotated New Testament Study Bible, PDF); Kelly 10-21

Monday, September 10: The Infancy Narrative of the Gospel of Luke Readings: Luke 1-2 (excerpt from the Jewish Annotated New Testament Study Bible, PDF); Kelly 21-39

Wednesday, September 12: Miraculous Births in the Ancient World Readings: Vermes 39-51

Friday, September 14: When and Where Was Jesus Really Born? Readings: Vermes 76-88

Monday, September 17: The Virgin Birth Readings: Vermes 52-75; selections from Christmas—Philosophy for Everyone (PDF)

Wednesday, September 19: The

4 Readings: Vermes 89-118

Friday, September 21: An Origins Story for Mary: The Protevangelium of James Readings: Kelly 40-55; Protevangelium of James (PDF); Origen, Against Celsus (PDF)

Monday, September 24: The Very Naughty Child Prodigy: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas Readings: Infancy Gospel of Thomas (PDF)

Wednesday, September 26: Later Apocryphal Infancy Gospels Readings: Kelly 56-65; Latin Infancy Gospel (PDF); Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (PDF)

Friday, September 28: Making sense of the Magi Readings: Kelly 111-124; Landau (or translation of the Revelation of the Magi from my dissertation, available as PDF) **Take-Home Exam 1 Distributed in Class

Monday, October 1: No Class **Take-Home Exam 1 Due to Canvas on Monday, October 1 by 11:59PM

Wednesday, October 3: Fixing the Date of Jesus’ Birth Readings: Kelly 66-96

Friday, October 5: Saturnalia, , and Other Pre-Christian Winter Festivals Readings: Forbes 3-13; Preston, “Putting the ‘Yule’ Back in ‘Yuletide’” (PDF)

Monday, October 8: Why Do We Celebrate Christmas on December 25th (and not on January 6th)? Readings: Forbes 17-41

Part 2: Creating Christmas As We (that is, Americans) Know It

Monday, October 8: The Puritan “War on Christmas” Readings: Readings: Nissenbaum 3-48

Wednesday, October 10: Rethinking “The Night Before Christmas” Readings: Nissenbaum 49-89

Friday, October 12: The Evolution of Readings: Readings: Forbes 69-96; Pearse, “Did of /Santa Claus Punch Arius at the Council of Nicaea?” (http://tinyurl.com/StNickArius)

Monday, October 15: The Beginnings of a Domestic(ated) Christmas Readings: Nissenbaum 90-131

5 Wednesday, October 17: Why Do People Buy Christmas Presents? Readings: Forbes 111-128; Nissenbaum 132-175

Friday, October 19: And Why Do They Wrap Them? Readings: Marling 1-42

Monday, October 22: And Why Do They Bring a Tree Inside and Put Presents Under It? Readings: Marling 160-196

Wednesday, October 24: And Why Do They Put Lights On the Outside of Their Houses? Readings: Marling 43-81

Friday, October 26: Readings: Forbes 128-133; Lankford, Sleigh Rides, , and Silent Nights: A Cultural History of American Christmas Songs (excerpts on PDF); Heller, “Christmas Carols: Why Do We Keep Singing Them?” (http://tinyurl.com/HellerChristmasCarols)

Monday, October 29: How the Stole Christmas Readings: None

Wednesday, October 31: What about ? Readings: Forbes, “Halloween” (PDF)

Friday, November 2: A Charlie Brown Christmas Readings: Lind, “Christmas in the 1960s: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Religion, and the Conventions of the Television Genre” (PDF)

Part 3: The Strangeness of Christmas

Monday, November 5: The Ethics of Santa Claus, part 1 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: Exploitation for Christmas” (PDF)

Wednesday, November 7: The Ethics of Santa Claus, part 2

Friday, November 9: , Black Peter, and Other Anti-Santas Readings: Bruce, “The Krampus in Styria” (PDF); Rodenberg and Wagenaar, “Essentializing ‘Black Pete’” (PDF); Gulevich, “” (PDF)

Monday, November 12: Christmas as a Celebration of Consumerism

6 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 139-150

Wednesday, November 14: Christmas as a Celebration of Consumerism, part 2

Friday, November 16: What about Thanksgiving? Readings: Forbes, “Thanksgiving” (PDF) **Take-Home Exam 2 Distributed in Class

Monday, November 19: No Class **Take-Home Exam 2 Due to Canvas on Monday, November 19 by 11:59PM

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

Monday, November 26: Christmas in Japan Readings: Moeran and Skov, “Cinderella Christmas: Kitsch, Consumerism, and Youth in Japan” (PDF); Konagaya, “The : A Japanese Tradition of American Prosperity” (PDF); Smith, “Why Japan Is Obsessed with Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas” (http://tinyurl.com/JapanKFC)

Wednesday, November 28: Did Christmas “Invent” Hanukkah? Readings: Forbes 150-153; “‘Merry Chanuka’: The Changing Holiday Practices of American Jews, 1880-1950” (PDF)

Friday, November 30: Kwanzaa: An Alternative to Christmas for African Americans Readings: Mayes, Kwanzaa: Black Power and the Making of the African-American Holiday (PDF excerpts)

Monday, December 3: The Constitutionality of Christmas Readings: TBA

Wednesday, December 5: 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” (http://tinyurl.com/ChristmasKickingAss); Denvir, “A Short History of the War on Christmas” (http://tinyurl.com/ShortHistoryWaronChristmas); Tinsley, “Don’t Mess with ‘Merry Christmas’ in Texas” (http://tinyurl.com/TexasMerryChristmas)

Friday, December 7: OPEN DATE

Monday, December 10: Concluding Thoughts

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