FT 07-L The Legend (and Problem) of Bagger Vance: Reading, Writing, and Thinking Multi-Culturally
David Cho, Department of English
How does one define "culture" in this 21st century? There are many like "diversity," "multiculturalism," and "plurality" when talking about different categories or groups of people, particularly in the United States - but the terminology and their differences seem to get only increasingly confusing in this "politically correct" age and generation. How can we begin to look at the world around us, particularly in the United States, with critical eyes, even with popular movies like The Legend of Bagger Vance? What's the big deal with this issue of "race" that seems to have been around for so long? For this freshman tutorial, we will focus on how to define "culture," issues of "multiculturality," mostly through studying the construction of race in the United States. We'll study its historic problem, since colonial times to the present, allowing us also to cover issues of class, gender, sexuality, and various forms of spiritual and religious affiliations. Through our readings, discussions, and papers, we will begin to consider certain principles, supplanted by historical, social, and scholarly resources. Hopefully these will help us consider various issues of social justice and personal applications. Reading material will include authors as diverse as John Winthrop, Frederick Jackson Turner, Toni Morrison, Leslie Marmon Silko, Gloria Anzaldua, to name a few. We'll also be drawing from the historical works of Ronald Takaki, developmental psychology books like Beverly Daniel Tatum's Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria Together, and lots of films and documentaries to help keep us grounded.