Notes from Class 2-11-09: Rebekah and Christin

In tonight’s class, we focused mainly on chapter five from Strike and Soltis; weaving in Appiah towards the end of class. Dr. Pope began by summarizing the two cases found in Strike and Soltis. The class consensus on these two cases was that evolution and Iroquois history should indeed be discussed, even if students have differing beliefs. Sharing ideas is at the core of education (marketplace of ideas). The point was made that some high school students cannot differentiate between knowing something for the test and adapting the idea into their beliefs. In light of this, is it harmful to the identity of the students?

Identity: What responsibility do teachers have vis a vie student identity?1. Cultivate? Case of Iroquois history: the idea was to promote positive self-worth. What parts of identity should we cultivate? Culture is a part of student identity. Is it our responsibility, as teachers, to cultivate the culture of students? Should ethnic cultural identity be cultivated 2. Neutral? Case of evolution: present facts and let students decide. Neutrality relates to our democratic society (choose your own identity). But by presenting options, are we really remaining neutral?
Truth:
· Modernism: Most of the history of western philosophy is based off of modernism. Modernists believe that Truth is independent of any particular perspective. The Truth is found through reason, which is innately an essential human quality. Thus every human is innately the same. As a species, humans are “pretty awesome.” We’ve made mistakes, but are forming rational societies. Consequentialism and non- consequentialism both hinge on Reason and modernist ideas about ethics.
· Postmodernism: Came about through twentieth century philosophical critiquing of modernism. Events like the Holocaust made people doubt that reason is an essential human quality. The mechanism of reason was used for evil. The only fundamental truth is that we are all very different. Narratives and dominant narratives. Culture has a dominant narrative. Those in POWER set a standard of that culture will accept as truth. “Truth” is a function of power. Truth is whatever the norms of culture are at any given time.Cultural Relativism. Truth is relative to an individual culture. Everything is relative. A modernist would claim that there is some empirically verifiable data, shaped by concepts and criteria. A postmodern example to rebut this: Kant’s time may be an empirically verifiable concept, but anthropologists have found cultures in which time is delineated. Concepts and theories do shape facts, but they are also bound by culture. The postmodernist asks the questions how can we all get along if we are all so different? Professor Pope suggested the book Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen. Modernism has tried to be a grand narrative. Modernists come-back to the Postmodernists: Aren’t we all responsible to something bigger, like a universal Truth? Postmodernists say that there is no universal, independent truth. The postmodernist would say that the case of evolution vs. creationism would just be different people with different truths.

Culture, Subculture, Multiculturalism: Educational Options by Appiah: Argues against Separatism (i.e. African Americans should be taught African-American history only, while Hispanic Americans should be taught Hispanic American history only, etc.). Makes a clear distinction between culture and identity. U.S.’s dominant culture isn’t its national culture. Dominant culture is controlled by those who run government and business. This culture established what schools are like. Media + dominant culture →universal common culture (American cultural elements, like American Idol and baseball). Appiah argues that culture is a product of media.

Book Recommendation: Lies My Teacher Told Me