Multiculturalism and Inclusion

When I begin to design a course, I do so with the intention of creating a class that is banner-amst3welcoming and engaging for all students; I aspire for each student to be as passionate about what I teach as I am. I am deliberate in selecting resources that will reflect this philosophy. One way I do this is to choose books that represent a diversity of ethnicities, cultures, perspectives and life-style choices.

Literature and other materials I regularly teach, or have recently taught, that pertain to multiculturalism and inclusion:

African-Americans:

  • Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
  • The Skin I’m In, by Sharon Flake
  • skin-im-inBud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
  •  Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (excerpts)
  • Up From Slavery, by Booker T. Washington
  •  When I Was a Slave: Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection, by Norman Yetman
  • Slavery Time When I Was Chillun, by Belinda Hurmence
  • Brer Rabbit Stories, by Joel Chandler Harris
  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • “Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936 to 1938″ Library of Congress
  • Clover, by Dori Sanders
  • The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore
  • Amazing Grace, by Jonathan Kozol
  • Heaven, by Angela Johnson
  • Black Boy, by Richard Wright
  • The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
  • Fist Stick Knife Gun: a personal history of violence, by Geoffrey Canada
  • Scorpions, by Walter Dean Myers
  • 145th Street Short Stories, by Walter Dean Myers
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
  • To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X (excerpts)
  • “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King
  • “I Have a Dream,” by Martin Luther King
  • “Primer For Blacks,” by Gwendolyn Brooks
  • “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” by Weldon Irvine
  • the-bluest-eye“Mother to Son,” by Langston Hughes
  • “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” by Langston Hughes
  • Pariah (film)
  • Hoop Dreams (film)
  • Boyz ‘N the Hood (film)
  • Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives (documentary)
  • Being Poor, Black, and American (weblink)

Multiculturalism:

  • American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
  • The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisernos
  • Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
  • A Step from Heaven, by An Na
  • The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
  • Baseball in April and Other Stories, by Gary Soto
  • The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair (excerpts)
  • The Education of Little Tree, by Forrest Carterluther
  • 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families, by Jane Ziegelman
  • “First Days at Carlisle” by Luther Standing Bear
  • “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie
  • “Crazy Horse Malt Liquor and other Cultural Metaphors” by Michael Dorris
  • “A Half-Breed’s Dream Vacation” by Tiffany Midge
  • In America (film)
  • My Immigrant Story (weblink)
  • Immigration Stories of Here and Yesterday (weblink)
  • Children of Immigrants (weblink)
  • Contrasting viewpoints – Native Americans:
    • “New Deal Reforms Will Harm American Indians” by Flora Warren Symore
    • “New Deal Reforms Have Helped American Indians” by John Collier

LGBTQ

  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
  • So Hard to Say, by Alex Sanchez
  • Pariah (film)

Body Image/Body Dysmorphia 

  • Moose: A Memoir, by Stephanie Klein
  • Fat Girl: A True Story, by Judith Moore

Victims of Abuse

  • A Step from Heaven, by An Na
  • Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell
  • Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer
  • Three Little Words, by Ashley Rhodes-Courter