Creative Americanization

by J Akuma Njoku

While there are many approaches to teaching diversity, Creative Americanization explores how we consciously transform cultural products to suit more mainstream American tastes. With cultures mixing and mingling, different products are constantly modified and transformed, creating varieties that can be a genuine source of individual, communal, and national strength. There is foundational material that covers the complexity of social and cultural diversity in the United States, and class-tested projects that engage students ... Read More

While there are many approaches to teaching diversity, Creative Americanization explores how we consciously transform cultural products to suit more mainstream American tastes. With cultures mixing and mingling, different products are constantly modified and transformed, creating varieties that can be a genuine source of individual, communal, and national strength. There is foundational material that covers the complexity of social and cultural diversity in the United States, and class-tested projects that engage students to embrace the cultural differences around them. Developed for today's consumer-savvy students, Creative Americanization shows how multicultural products both shape and are shaped by the American culture. Akuma-Kalu J. Njoku holds a Ph.D. in Folklore (major) and Anthropology (minor) from Indiana University. An Associate Professor in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University, Njoku teaches courses in "Cultural Diversity in the United States," "Diversity in the Workplace," "Continuing Community Traditions in the Global World," and "Peoples and Cultures of Africa." Before accepting a teaching position at Western Kentucky University, he had taught in Colleges and Universities in Michigan, Indiana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Creative Americanization is his third book. Njoku's fourth book, From Freedom to Freedom is forthcoming. Read Less