L57 RelPol 3105

American Holidays: Civic and Religious Celebrations in American Culture

Fall 2022, W 2:00–4:50PM

This course explores a variety of topics relating to American religious holidays and civic rituals such as African-American emancipation celebrations, public battles over Christmas, evangelical enactments of Halloween Hell Houses, Roman Catholic street festivals, modern renderings of Hanukkah, as well as the memorialization of the Union and the Confederacy.

WUCRSL
line drawing of three people teaching superimposed on each other

This seminar examines a variety of holidays, festivals, and rituals in American history and culture. Topics include: public conflicts over Christmas, African-American emancipation celebrations, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Roman Catholic street festivals dedicated to the Virgin Mary, modern renderings of Hanukkah, as well as memorialization of the Union and the Confederacy. Various interpretive approaches are explored, and the intent is to broach a wide range of questions about history and tradition, gender and race, public memory and consumer culture, religion and nationalism, through this topical focus on holidays and holy days.

Course History:
Fall 2013: Taught by Professor Leigh Eric Schmidt