Notes on Stuhr’s book review of Celebrating Pluralism: Art, Education, and Cultural Diversity by G. Chalmers

From Studies in Art Education, 1999 40(2), 180-191

According to the feminist postmodern studies (PMS) reading group at The Ohio State University:
“Reviewers must state her perspectives and biases”

“…traditional academic model of critique is not the only available model and that letters to the author, narratives, jotted diary thoughts, poems, and multi-voiced texts, and other writings might hold promise as forms of critique.”

“…multicultural art education should take a position that furthers human rights for all people.”

“We consider multicultural education as a process agent to assist in providing for more equitable opportunities for individuals and groups to gain social, political, and especially educational arenas.”

“There is no such thing as a homogeneous culture anyway that you can get to know completely.”

“All there is that you can get to know is individual people’s experience based on their living within particular cultural groups that exist within a particular nation(s): a piece of that culture.”

“…a person’s cultural identity is made up of many aspects that include their age, gender, social and economic class (education, job, family position), exceptionality, geographic location, religion, sexuality, political status, and ethnicity (which is the aspect most people concentrate on when they think about culture). And many of these aspects of a person’s cultural identity are always in flux and dynamic…”

“…in multicultural education (especially the reconstructionists type) a primary component is to provide a critical filter, and not just to look critically at other cultures but also at our own and nothing should be taken for granted.”

“Because there is bad in every culture doesn’t mean we shouldn’t study that culture, but he (Chalmers) doesn’t talk about what we should do about the bad.” –Terry Barret

“…we want to critically examine differences not just celebrate them.” –Terry Barret

“I think that cultural imperialism advocates one point of view. Pluralism looks at several perspectives.” –Don Krug

“But seeing things from multiple perspectives is a Western point of view.” –Michael Parsons