Dr. Eric Mazur will speak Nov. 18

Just in time for the holidays, UNC Asheville will host a talk on "Bubbie Got Run Over by a Reindeer: Using Hanukkah to Justify Christmas in the Public Square" by religious studies scholar Eric Mazur. The talk will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at UNC Asheville's Reuter Center, Chestnut Ridge Room. The event is free and open to the public.

In this talk, Mazur will examine the ways in which the contemporary drive of pluralism has elevated Hanukkah – a relatively minor Jewish holiday – to the same level as Christmas. Mazur will also describe what he calls the "de-Christianization" of the winter holidays by inclusion of the celebration of Hanukkah.

Mazur is associate professor of religious studies and the Gloria and David Furman Chair of Judaic Studies at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Va., where he teaches courses on Judaism, religion in American culture and the academic study of religion. He is the author of "The Americanization of Religious Minorities: Confronting the Constitutional Order" and co-author of "Religion on Trial: How Supreme Court Trends Threaten Freedom of Conscience in America." The editor of several noted texts and journals, Mazur is currently working on "Church and State in America" for Columbia University Press' "Contemporary American Religion" series.

The talk is sponsored by UNC Asheville's Center for Jewish Studies and Religious Studies Department.

For more information, call UNC Asheville's Center for Jewish Studies at 828/232-5027.