Academics may be increasingly reluctant to recognize Christmas but they do notice it. A professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern named “Michelle Weinberger presented research on ‘Non-Participation in Consumption Rituals–A Christmas Story’ at the American Sociological Association Conference in August [2010],” Medill Matters, “a newsletter of the faculty’s research and creative/professional accomplishments” reports. “The project focuses on those who choose not to engage in consumption rituals like Christmas.”

“She finds that people strategically use four means to cope: avoiding Christmas practices, partially participating in selective community-oriented practices, hybridizing by participating in similar non-Christmas rituals, and educating.” Most of us view Christmas as something more than a “consumption ritual.”

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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