The Reed D. Voran Distingushed Professor Lecture with Dr. Alex Kaufman
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
12:30pm-1:30pm
BA 124
“Robin Hood’s Christmastime World”
Robin Hood, the English outlaw who lives forever in the world of the greenery of Sherwood Forest during the spring and summer months, seemingly has little connection with wintertime and the Christmas holiday season. In the first study of the Robin Hood and Christmastime traditions, Dr. Alexander L. Kaufman, the Reed D. Voran Distinguished Professor of Honors Humanities and Professor of English at Ball State University, demonstrates how the post-medieval cultural world of Robin Hood was and continues to be linked with Christmastime, and purposely so, through texts and events that Kaufman argues are part of “the winterwood.” Dr. Kaufman’s presentation will be a on the subject of his recently published scholarly monography, Christmastime Texts and the Popularity of the Robin Hood Tradition (Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2025), and he will also discuss future lines of scholarly inquiry and research on the winterwood.