CLICK HERE FOR TWO FREE CHRISTMAS LECTURES FROM THE TEACHING COMPANY
Our holiday gift to you—Two Special Holiday Lectures!
In Christmas in Victorian Britain, Professor Allitt explores the celebration of Christmas as we know it today, with decorations, music, and lavish gift exchanges, and where it began-Victorian Britain. While the holiday had older traditions such as those that celebrated the winter solstice, the Victorians enhanced and clarified the religious elements of Christmas while at the same time commercializing it.
After familiarizing yourself with the origins of modern day Christmas, explore Christmas in 19th Century America. How did different ethnic groups in America celebrate Christmas in the early 19th century? Why did New Englanders often want to avoid all forms of celebration while Pennsylvania Germans dressed up, visited each other, and drank heavily? After the Civil War, Christmas celebrations began to be standardized throughout the nation under the influence of the new department stores, which ran the Christmas-oriented marketing campaigns we are familiar with today.
Professor Patrick N. Allitt is Professor of History at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born and raised in central England and received his B.A. in British and European History from Oxford University. He earned his Ph.D. in American History from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Allitt has served as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Divinity School and at the Princeton University Center for the Study of American Religion.
We hope you enjoy the lectures . We send it with warmest wishes for a happy holiday season for you and yours.
You may access your free lectures online between now and December 31, 2005. Please feel free to send the link to the lectures to any friends of yours who might also enjoy them. They are free for them as well.
Seasons Greetings to you!
Sincerely,
Tom Rollins
President and CEO
The Teaching Company