Multicultural literature in the classroom

Why Teach Multicultural Literature? iStockphoto.com I have taught literature at the college level for almost a decade and at as many as six different campuses. These have mainly been classes that were focused on non-western writing. One semester, I had assigned Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and only a week earlier her TED talk, Danger of a Single Story had started to circulate on the web. I sent the link to my students and thought we could incorporate it into our discussion on colonialism, multiculturalism, issues of race and of course, the novel itself. Library Booklists: Young Adult Diverse and Multicultural Fiction BOOKLISTS: YOUNG ADULT DIVERSE and MULTICULTURAL FICTION ETHNICITY and RACE Books of Different Cultures for Teens (Plymouth District Libraries, MI): Title, author, summary, and webcat link for about 40 novels and a couple of non-fiction books, from Joan Abelove's Go and Come Back (an Amazonian village in the Andes) to Diane L. Wilson's I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade (Mongolia in 1339). Updated June 2008. From Strangers to Neighbors: Race, Dignity and Acceptance Beyond To Kill a Mockingbird: For Older Children (Duluth Public Library, MN): Author, title, publication date, summary for 20 books exploring issues similar to those raised by Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, from William H.

Multicultural Fiction for Teenagers The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. 2007Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. 2006Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture. Presented in comic book format. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation. Vol. I, The Pox Party by M.T.

21 Multicultural Middle Grade Novels for Summer Reading Summer is around the corner! Well, at least in the northern hemisphere…. Time to stock up on summer reads for your middle graders! There are some wonderful new releases, my favourite two being I Lived on Butterfly Hill and Listen, Slowly. Forcing Kids To Stick To Gender Roles Can Actually Be Harmful To Their Health Raising children in societies that adhere to rigid gender roles, with fixed ideas about what should be considered “masculine” and “feminine,” can actually be detrimental to their physical and mental health, according to a study that observed 14-year-olds’ interactions over a three month period. “Usually we think of gender as natural and biological, but it’s not… We actually construct it in ways that have problematic and largely unacknowledged health risks,” lead researcher Maria do Mar Pereira, the deputy director for the University of Warwick’s Centre for the Study of Women and Gender, explained in an interview with ThinkProgress. Pereira drew her conclusions after being embedded in a class of teenagers in Lisbon, Portugal. Pereira observed both boys and girls regulating their behavior in potentially harmful ways in order to adhere to gender norms.

CCBC Booklists Compiled by Megan Schliesman, Kathleen T. Horning and Merri V. Lindgren At the CCBC, we define "multicultural" literature as books by and about people of color and First/Native Nations individuals: African and African Americans, American Indians, Asian/Pacifics and Asian Pacific Americans, and Latinos. The 5 Biases Pushing Women Out of STEM By now, we’ve all heard about the low numbers of American women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Some argue it’s a pipeline issue – that if we can interest more young girls in STEM subjects, the issue will resolve itself over time. But that’s not convincing. After all, the percentage of women in computer science has actually decreased since 1991. Another theory is that women are choosing to forgo careers in STEM to attain better work-family balance—rather than being pushed out by bias. But evidence for that is also thin.

Multicultural Fiction for Teenagers The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. 2007Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. 2006Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture. Presented in comic book format.