I ripped up a flag handout that was given to my daughter, that was purported to be the African American flag, and told her about the actual Flag of Americans of Black descent. Here is a American man standing in front of one, who served his country.
Posted on 02/17/2005 5:30:46 PM PST by Republicanprofessor
I am asking for non-Ivory tower feedback and ideas. I am wrestling with college committee work and the revamping of our liberal arts requirements. I feel I am battling a PC tsunami. So I thought I'd ask for some real-world feedback. (Our opinions in the ivory tower can be a bit near-sighted.)
Those of you who are recent graduates, or employers of graduates, let me know if any requirements for multi-cultural or interdisciplinary courses have made you (or your employees) better individuals.
What is multi-cultural? (How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? This is a great example of the addage: the more puny the academic committee question, the more heated the discussion.) What do you think multi-cultural is or should be? A course with more than one culture studied, or one with the appropriate percentage of "minority" content?
What is interdisciplinary? A course with more than one main discipline: such as a combination of psychology and philosophy, art and music, math and physics, history and economics. Does study in this kind of course broaden you as a person and prepare you for the real world?
These requirements can be seen as bureaucratic hoops to jump through to get a course approved, or they can be seen as echoing the needs for a global world.
Please let me know what you think (if you care at all). All FReepers are free to reply as well. I need amunition for the fight!
Ping.
What is the working definition of Culture here?
However, it is just as important to have people from different economic and political beliefs too.
Open dialogue helps dispel misconceptions about other people and classroom discussions can go a long way with an intellectually honest moderator.
Hope this isn't too trite.
Those of you who are recent graduates, or employers of graduates, let me know if any requirements for multi-cultural or interdisciplinary courses have made you (or your employees) better individuals.
As we know, these requirements focus on womens' studies and ethnic studies curricula. And the professors in these fields tend to be women and ethnic. The requirements just allow the administration to crow about their "diverse" faculty. I took one of these courses: New age silliness.
What is multi-cultural?
Math. From the Hindus, carried by the Arabs, refined by the French and Germans and back to Ramanujan. There is nothing more pure than mathematics. It pervades all cultures and is the yardstick to measure civilization.
A course with more than one culture studied, or one with the appropriate percentage of "minority" content?
History of math. It covers all cultures. Where else will you learn of early 20th century India (Ramanujan) and the holocaust in Hungary (Erdõs).
What is interdisciplinary?
Math. Math is everything. Economics, physics, chemistry, anything worth studying is, at its core, mathematics. If it's not mathematics, then it's either experimentation or taxonomy, neither of which are very intellectually challenging.
These wussy psuedointellectual disciplines have drowned the Academy. With each requirement for diversity or multiculturalism, the freedom of the liberal arts education is lost.
Sorry. I had to rant.
I personally think multi-culturalism and m-c courses are a waste of time, big time. Our son was homeschooled, leaves for Notre Dame in the fall. I will consider it a HUGE waste of money if he is required to take even one class, even one workshop on this subject. To me it is a boondoggle for the know-nothing professors who teach it. And, frankly, it is also leftist/ secular propaganda being crammed down the students' throats. Here's what I think you should teach -- WESTERN CIVILIZATION. Our history, what it is built on (Judeo-Christian values/ Magna Carta), Ancient Civilizations that led to Western Civ, the great literature of Western Civ, the great music of Western Civ, great thinkers of Western Civ. And then, for heaven's sake, teach your students how to think for themselves. None of this - 'You don't get an A unless you parrot the leftie Professor.' How can you go wrong? No need for junk food if you have a banquet. Which we have in Western Civ.
i think it's a sorry situation that the boomer generation demanded and got changes to the humanities requirements of many universities and colleges. the rise of the so-called "j-schools", or journalism schools virtually eliminated the sciences and humanities, and look what we got as a result today in the media.
these occurred in the circa 1970 and on.
feminism and fundamentalists, at odds with each other, often sided together against the humanities.
when dr. harold bloom, the shakespearean scholar retired, he gave his 25,000 books to a catholic college library, honoring the catholic church for its role in the humanities in western civilization.
the humanities are the glue of western civilization, judeo-christian civilization, and need to be restored to prominence.
the frankfort school-lacan-foucault-derrida-derived feminism that dominates our universities needs to be confronted. louis althusser, for example, murdered his wife but is honored by today's feminists.
What is multi-cultural?
I think it is better to ask "Why have we changed from 'tolerating' other cultures; to 'viewing' other cultures as a 'virtue'?"
It's one thing to expect us to be TOLERANT of people from other countries (India for example), yet a totally different thing to use these cultures as a virtue unto themselves. In India, they STILL have a caste system in which the lower castes may not even assocate with the upper castes. This means talk, eat with, or be seen in public with upper castes. In Africa, they still have cannibalism and slavery. These are hardly admirable qualities in any sense of the word.
We have Muslims who now demand to broadcast their prayers 5x/day, every day from their Mosques, in communities where playing a radio loud will result in a fine.
America USED to be melting pot. People came here, they learned English, they attended schools, they started working and earning a living, and they blended into America and the best that everyone had was shared by all. Now, we have to accept the worst of every culture, by force of law. We now have people coming into this country (illegally) and grabbing as much benefit as they can, without working to earn it. And we are told to be 'receptive' to this in the name of 'multi-culturalism'. How can this be good?
So how do I respond? Well, I have no problem hiring women, minorities or whites (which are quickly becoming a minority); but I refuse to hire someone who cannot speak English, and who attended a 'minority college'. Why? Because if they require a special college in order to get their degree, they are too weak to fit into my team. And MY team members (christian, muslim, white, black and mexican)all work together as a group. The group will not make special concessions for the individual, nor should they be expected to. Unfortunately, this appears to be the goal of 'multi-culturism'.
A memorable tale from D'Nesh D'Souza's book on his time at Dartmouth -- they put out an empty booklet titled "Feminist Thought." blank pages. hahaha.
If the kids are being taught feel-good pap which they cannot use in their careers, then the university has failed in it's mission.
Considering the price of a credit hour these days, the universities have a moral obligation to provide useful knowlege relevant to the student's major.
And this is from a prof who has integrated other culture's ideas a lot less into his whole life than I have.
By the way, I agree wholeheartedly with these posts, especially AmishDude before you. I just need to have someone agree with me, rather than those on the **** committees.
Ping to you and your ping list. What do you think about multi-cultural requirements, from an ethnic perspective? I would love to have some African-American views to shoot with.
Great point. No one is melting anymore when they get here.
Don't forget how they mutilate their wives: clitoral castration, at the very least. Talk about sexist.
But I don't think these facts get mentioned in many classes.
Rep.Prof.,
I am a former public school teacher and am currently a mom to three elementary school age children. I am also a classical musician.
From my experience with public school children, I believe they get a great deal of multi-cultural education from little on up through their social studies curriculum as well as attending school with persons from different cultures. I think multi-culturalism does not need to be studied in depth as part of a liberal arts education. Today's students have been living the global village most of their lives, unlike their professors when they were the same age.
As for interdisciplinary studies, I do see a value here. Taking classes that are linked can be very broadening. For example, seeing the historic relationship between periods in art and music in their place in world history can make a person more able to see how other aspects of the world connect.
My children are in a parochial elementary school that uses a liberal arts curriculum. The best thing you can do for your students is what is being done for my children. They are being taught how to think for themselves. Focus on what they need to be able to do this, and let the rest fall away.
What is the working definition of Culture here?
Depends, doesn't it?
If you are a person living within an extant culture, it is the aquarium in which you swim, the commonly held philosophy, viewpoint and/or belief system which influences all of your perceptions.
If you want the definition of culture from the historical viewpoint, culture is that which remains once all of them who lived it, are gone.
Multicultural education should be based on teaching students how to respect and work with other parts of the world. They should know better than to invite a Hindu to a steak house or a Muslim to a BBQ but running down the US because that's the fashionable thing to do does not add market value to a graduate.
The business school graduates seemed to be the ones best prepared and least likely to exhibit the above tendencies. Of course, most of those had prior experience in the real world.
OK, you asked. Interpret this as you need to fulfill your needs.
Oh, in the eyes of most employers, "multi-cultural studies" graduate implies a job at Starbucks or a state/gov't wanker job.
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