ANTH 23 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Ronald Takaki, Allan Bloom, Great Books
March 16th friday
ANTH 23
Multicultural Education and American Culture:!
Ronald Takaki (1939-2009): !
•Hawaiian-born historian who specializing in race in the US and Asian American history !
•Greatly influenced by his White wife’s family dismissing him as a “Jap” !
•Taught the first Black history course at UCLA !
•Helped develop the Ethnic Studies dept. at UC-Berkeley !
•Social justice activist and pioneer in ethnic studies !
Debating Multiculturalism in Education:
•How should we teach history? !
•How should we teach about American culture? !
•Does trying too hard to be inclusive risk dumbing down the curriculum? !
•Does too much emphasis on ethnic conflicts and oppression reinforce divisions? !
•Does teaching about biases and alternative versions of history make all history seem relative
and uncertain? !
Textbook controversies:
•2014: conservative groups and state lawmakers protest the AP US history teachers guide for
focusing too much on negative aspects of history and not enough on American
exceptionalism; it is revised in 2015. !
•Students in a CO county walk out when a review board is established to ensure curriculum
“promotes citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system,
respect for authority and respect for individual rights." !
•2015: A mother in Texas protests to the publisher when her son’s geography book refers to
African slaves as “immigrants” and “workers” !
•The Texas school-board recently voted down a proposal to have history professors fact
check the textbooks !
Allan Bloom and The Closing of the American Mind:
•Black university students have proven to be “indigestible” and remain “ethnic,” culturally
particular!
•This separateness has been exacerbated with “academic permissiveness” of
multiculturalism, ethnic studies, and affirmative action, which emphasize cultural differences!
•The solution is the “Great Books” approach, which he sees as landmarks of a universal
civilization (482)!
•Bloom would favor Revelle’s Humanities program, whereas Takaki would prefer ERC’s
Making of the Modern World, which looks at history from a global perspective, which strategy
would you prefer?!
-Solution is the great books approach where we learn the works of Plato and Aristotle not
because they are part of a European tradition but as a universal approach. !
Schlesinger’s defense of traditional history:
•It was written by and about white men because they had the biggest impact on our history!
•Britain and Europe have had the greatest historical impact on American culture!
•Multiculturalists engage in “‘exaggeration’ of ethnic differences” in a way that divides races,
leads to “self-pity and ghettoization,” and distorts history!
•He advocates individualism over divisive group identities!
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Promotes citizenship, patriotism, essentials and bene ts of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights. : 2015: a mother in texas protests to the publisher when her son"s geography book refers to. African slaves as immigrants and workers : the texas school-board recently voted down a proposal to have history professors fact check the textbooks. Solution is the great books approach where we learn the works of plato and aristotle not because they are part of a european tradition but as a universal approach. March 16th friday: but takaki points out that his eurocentrism and whitewashing also distorts history and and wonders if diversity must be divisive (485) Most of history has focused on european history as they have had the biggest impact for better or worse. Multiculturalism exaggerates these ethnic di erences while people get a sense of self pity bc they learn about how much they were oppressed while in icting white guilt.
