Christmas in the Multicultural City: Public and Private Rituals between Culture, Religion and Consumption
A workshop of the Religion and Public Memory in Multicultural Societies Project
Christmas is a not a holiday just for Christians anymore, if it ever was. Embedded in calendars around the world and long a lucrative merchandising opportunity, the festive season of Christmas enters multicultural, multi-religious public spaces through decorative displays, ritual activities and collective gatherings. The presence of Christmas in the public sphere also affects what goes on in private homes: many non-Christians get caught up in the celebration of Christmas, adapting and transforming it, adding new layers of meaning to it. In the process, Christmas becomes a contested political object, particularly when various social players begin to articulate their claims to Christmas: Is it a religious holiday, as the churches would have it – and should it therefore be �?secularized’ in the public sphere, as the secularist view would have it? Or is it �?cultural’ – as many different groups argue – and what does this claim entail? This workshop takes a comparative historical and ethnographic perspective on the affective and political significance of Christmas in the multicultural city. Based on a workshop model with pre-circulated papers, the two-day gathering will include scholars working on diverse regions who have considered the ways that Christmas has served as a catalyst of conflict and compromise in the “secular” yet religiously diverse city.
If you are interested in attending this workshop, please send an email
Program:
Thursday, 10 December | |
14:00 – 14:15 | Official welcome (Pamela Klassen, Monique Scheer) |
14:15 – 15:15 | Pamela Klassen, University of Toronto // Monique Scheer, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen: Religion and Public Memory in Multicultural Societies
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15:15 – 16:00 | Isaac Weiner, Ohio State University: �?And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!’: Listening to Christmas in the Multicultural City” |
COFFEE BREAK (30 minutes) | |
16:30 – 17:15 | Juliane Brauer, Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung Berlin: Christmas Songs and Christmas Feelings – Music, Emotion and Remembrance
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17:15 – 18:00 | Andreas Bandak, University of Copenhagen: The Nativity Crib and the Scenery of Good Tidings; or on Celebrating Christmas Damascus’ Style
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DINNER | |
Friday, 11 December | |
9:00 – 9:45 | Yaniv Feller, Jüdisches Museum Berlin: “O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum”: The Role of a Christmas Tree in a Jewish Museum
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9:45 – 10:30 | Helen Mo, University of Toronto: The Christmas Crisis: Lessons from a Canadian Public School’s Seasonal Skirmish
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COFFEE BREAK (30 minutes) | |
11:00 – 11:45 | Christian Marchetti, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen: German Volkskunde, Christmas and Southeastern Europe
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11:45 – 12:30 | Pamela Klassen, University of Toronto: �?The First White Christmas’: Settler Odes and Nisga’a Hospitality on the Nass River
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LUNCH BREAK (1h 30 minutes) | |
14:00 – 14:45 | Amy Fisher, University of Toronto: Sleeping Rough and Feeling Stuffed: A “Homeless” Christmas in Toronto
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14:45 – 15:30 | Sophie Reimers, Viadrina University, Frankfurt/Oder: “What Exactly Do You Celebrate on Christmas?”: Different Perceptions of Christmas Among German-Turkish Families in Berlin |
COFFEE BREAK (30 minutes) | |
16:00 – 16:45 | Simon Coleman, University of Toronto: The Walsingham Cathedral
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16:45 – 17:30 | Katja Rakow, Utrecht University: Christmas on Orchard Road in Singapore: Celebrating the Gift of Jesus Christ among Gucci and Tiffany’s stores
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17:30 – 18:00 | FINAL DISCUSSION |
WEIHNACHTSMARKT TÜBINGEN & DINNER | |
Saturday, 12 December | |
FIELD TRIP TO NÜRNBERG | |