Ahhh... the last blog of the semester. This is simply an opportunity for you to ask and answer each other's questions and discuss anything that you think will be helpful in preparation for the final. I would suggest looking at your class notes, handouts from class, and your reading assignments along with your review sheet. This is primarily an open forum for you so check back often during the week and comment/question/ponder/review as much as you would like.
One request: please take just a couple of minutes to complete your course evaluation if you have not done so already. I would really appreciate it. Just follow this link to go to Campus Connect.
Good luck with all of your studying!
Also you can find a digital version of the final review sheet here: http://americanpoliticalculture.wordpress.com/course-documents/
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteI am taking a look at the final exam review sheet and just had a view questions on the identifications in section 3. How Should Americans Be Educated...
Can anyone point me in the right direction of these few individuals - Noah Webster, Horace Kallen, and E.D. Hirsch?
Thank you!
Horace Kallen
Delete1930s American Jew best known for advancing the notion of "cultural pluralism" in American life
-relied on the notion that the whiteness of European immigrant groups made them potential contributors to American society rather than a racial threat
Believed that the United States should provide a protective canopy for ethnic/racial groups to preserve their unique ethnicity (preservation of identity and ethnic diversity) --Immigrant Culture of America
I think E.D Hirsch talked about how there should be common knowledge that all americans should know. There's more about E.D Hirsch in How Should we be educated? prezi. the video of the reporter asking americans common knowledge questions is included in the prezi. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteNoah Webster is the namesake of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but other than that I am curious as well. As for Horace Kallen he stated that cultural diversity actually strengthened America rather than weakening it.
ReplyDeleteA major focus of our class was the historical context of slavery - starting in the mid-1750s - and the distinctions that were made between whites and their black servants. It's also notable how slavery was talked about in the United States, and how the message changed in the 1840s from a positive good to "a necessary evil" that was just a part of the culture (see George Fitzhugh's response to Uncle Tom's Cabin).
ReplyDeleteAlthough slavery was eventually outlawed, the problem confounded in terms of racist, legal discrimination in the United States under Jim Crow (grandfather clauses, poll taxes, literary tests, etc.).
I'm wondering, though, how slavery might factor into current ideas about race, ethnicity and identity in America today. Do you think the legacy of slavery affects identities in America today? The reason I ask is because there is a very topical discussion/debate happening right now on the subject of reparations: should we pay descendants of slaves reparations for the injustice inflicted on their ancestors? For those of you who are curious to read more about this, check out this "Room for Debate" section just published yesterday on the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/06/08/are-reparations-due-to-african-americans
Here is a link to flashcards I made with terms or "identifications". The website is called study blue and if you either use the link or search PSC 216 or Epstein you should be able to find them :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.studyblue.com/#flashcard/edit/11435538
To answer Lincoln and Sam's question regarding Noah Webster:
ReplyDeleteNoah Webster thought schools could be used to shape national identity. Schools and textbooks can be used to help bring us together as a society. If you form the schools then you can ultimately form the nation. He believed that schools can form children into the type of young adults that we want them to be.
Hope that helps!
I had a few questions about some of the identification words as well... can anyone clarify who Samuel Morton and Arthur Schlesinger are and why they are important? Also, can anyone explain or tell me what is the American religious marketplace?
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
Schlesinger is the author of the chapter “A New Race?” that we read at the beginning of May. He talks about how the idea of the “melting pot” was more representative of the earlier years of American immigration. He explains that immigrants were more willing (and able) to assimilate and adopt the “American Creed,” or basically American ideals and democracy, and they identified first and foremost as Americans. He argues that the more recently increased self-identification as different ethnicities threatens the idea of America as “one people” with a common identity and culture.
DeleteAnd I understood the “religious marketplace” to basically mean the diversity of religion in America and the fact that, due to religious freedom, a person is essentially able to choose from a wide variety of beliefs.
I hope that's helpful!
Building off Daile's response, religious affiliations are changing and beginning to alter the religious marketplace. Religious affiliations are shifting due to a number influences, the largest being change in immigration. The 'God in America' video we watched in class explored this issue.
DeleteI would like to mention that the lecture that I enjoyed was the Bradley Project on American National Identity, “E Pluribus Unum.” Was very interesting, the most meaningful phrase was that all of us are in the same boat. Which means to me that even we have been in a diversify place we must have the same common interest. We should be one and unified.
ReplyDeleteHere are some notes,
Noah Webster, understood that education could be used to shape society. Founding father of American Public Education.
Horace Kallen,”a democracy of nationalities.” He wanted America to become a nation of nations.
E. D Hirsh, cultural literacy.
Hey Stacey,
ReplyDeleteSamuel Morton was the scientist in the early part of the 20th Century that did a study on the size of human skulls, trying to determine which race was the "smartest" based on having a bigger skull. Turns out whites had bigger skulls on average, which is a goid example of how science was used to justify the distinctions of race.
Hi All-
ReplyDeleteCan anyone help me with Jerol Manheim? Not who Manheim is but was specifically we need to know.
Also, the ten percent plan. I realize the idea behind it but did we discuss what about it we need to know for the final? Thanks!!