Topic: Multiculturalism
From The Margaret Mead Symposium: Whither the United States in the World?
Commemorating the centennial of the birth of Margaret Mead.
December 2 & 3, 2001
Sponsors: Library of Congress and The Smithsonian Institution
Multiculturalism should be encouraged, panelists in this topic argue, in talking about how multiculturalism is taught to youth and how it might be learned by all Americans.
Uniformity vs Diversity
Speaker: William O. Beeman
Professor of Anthropology, Brown University
Beeman discusses Mead on cultural stereotypes and reliance on professional anthropologists, as well as the debate between Marxists and Structuralists on whether or not change actually takes place. Beeman gives examples of ways he sees change take place.
Quicktime (23.39MB)- Windows Media Player (27.75MB)
Multiculturalism and Youth
Speaker: Craig Kielburger
Founder and Chairman, Free the Kids
Kielburger discusses the many ways schools can build multiculturalism into the curriculum, and the many options available to us now to communicate globally and learn about other cultures.
- Quicktime (2.63MB)
- Windows Media Player (3.19MB)
Multiculturalism in America
Speaker: Gail M. Leftwich
President, Federation of State Humanities Councils
Leftwich talks about the need to encourage those who cannot travel to engage in their own communities, as well as to have multicultural experiences within the United States.
- Quicktime (3.45MB)
- Windows Media Player (4.13MB)
