A group of 40 DePaul University communication students will be spending this holiday season singing carols, performing charity work and viewing department store Christmas windows. They won't be doing it because class is out, but because they are in class.

The students are enrolled in "Christmas in Popular Culture," a course which challenges students to cast an analytical eye on holiday activities that many of us take for granted. The class meets Monday through Thursday evenings from Dec. 2 to 16.

"The course approaches the contemporary Christmas as a sort of tribal festival in which several interesting symbolic tensions can be observed," said Kate Kane, an assistant professor of communications at DePaul who teaches the course.

Students study the competing themes of the season--such as greed vs. charity--that are represented in Christmas literature, television specials, movies, songs and symbols. They explore the characters of Santa Claus and Scrooge, Christmas in other cultures and family themes tied to the holiday. "A Christmas Carol," "Miracle on 34th Street" and "White Christmas" are among the required reading and viewing.

Kane also assigns some unusual work. Students sing Christmas carols and analyze the symbolic significance of the songs. The class not only studies charity themes but organizes food and clothing drives with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at St. Vincent's Parish. Individual students also may work in a homeless shelter and write an essay on the experience.

On Dec. 15, the class will take a 6 p.m. tour of the Christmas windows and other displays in Marshall Fields State Street Store. The purpose of the field trip is to study the colors and symbols of the season and discuss issues such as the tension between the material and spiritual. "We also look at how merchandising transforms ordinary commodities into gifts," Kane said. "For example, put a bow on a box of socks, and the socks are transformed from a commodity to an expression of an interpersonal relationship."

"Through the class, I hope students will come to a deeper appreciation of the season by understanding the cultural history of the symbols and rituals of Christmas," Kane said.

Reporter's Note: Kane can be reached at (773) 325-2965.