Judith Davis to present Afternoon Sabbatical on Early Renaissance Christmas, Dec. 9

Event: Afternoon Sabbatical – "An Early Renaissance Christmas Medley"
Date and time: Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m.
Location: Sauder Concert Hall, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: free and open to the public

GOSHEN, Ind. – How did they celebrate Christmas in 1520?

Goshen College Professor Emerita of French and Humanities Judith Davis presents "An Early Renaissance Christmas Medley" Afternoon Sabbatical on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. in the Goshen College Music Center's Sauder Concert Hall.

Davis will take the audience back to France and England to bring alive the customs, food, manners and entertainment that went into an early Renaissance Christmas celebration. The Maple City Brass Ensemble and the Maple City Consort, will perform a number of songs from the 1520s era and earlier. The Maple City Brass Ensemble is a quartet that includes Greg Smucker and Steve Shantz on trumpet, Kim Blaha on French horn and Glenn Gilbert on trombone. The Maple City Consort is a recorder quartet that includes Art Smucker, Amos Burkholder, Mary Gilbert and Mabel Blunk.

Davis retired from Goshen College in 2001 after 24 years in teaching and administration. She received a doctorate in French and medieval studies from the University of Minnesota and is a frequent presenter at the annual Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Mich. Her second book, tentatively titled "Our Lady's Lawsuits," will be published in 2010 by the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies.

A reception will follow the program. This event is free and open to the public.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.