This course focuses on festivals and celebrations past and present, and how they illuminate the development of folklore, anthropology, and literature. It will begin with a survey of how Christian holidays developed and were blended with older traditions. Then it will discuss how "popular culture" was discovered in the Early Modern period. The second half analyzes specific contemporary festivals celebrated in Houston like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and La Guadalupana. Students will observe one of these live and write a final paper on it. The course aims to introduce ethnographic techniques and encapsulate the history of folklore and literary studies through analyzing festivities. Assignments include a library research paper on one festival and a field research project involving ethnographic observation and interviews