An/Other American Life: Minor Pedagogies of Culture and Heritage in the Arab American National Museum
Saved in:
| Title: | An/Other American Life: Minor Pedagogies of Culture and Heritage in the Arab American National Museum |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Helmsing, Mark |
| Source: | Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies. 2014 36(1):71-88. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2014 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Evaluative Opinion Papers |
| Descriptors: | Museums, Exhibits, Arabs, Cultural Influences, Citizenship, Consciousness Raising, Cultural Awareness, Social Attitudes, Teaching Methods, Immigration, Social Influences |
| Geographic Terms: | Michigan |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10714413.2014.866817 |
| ISSN: | 1071-4413 |
| Abstract: | When entering the permanent exhibit titled "Living in America" in the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan, visitors are greeted with a sign that reads "Ahlan wa Sahlan." It is a greeting that translates in English to: "Your path is easier now that you are with us." The visitor, "you," is now a part of the "us." The exhibit is designed to express how Arab Americans have participated in the making of the United States through different processes of becoming citizens. These processes are represented by an array of political, economic, and cultural practices invoked by objects ranging a stub from an election ballot for a city council race; a cash register machine from a small grocery store owned and operated by an Arab American family; and a rack of recorded music albums produced by an Arab American music mogul. These objects draw the visitor from "your path" and onto the path of the "us" invoked by the sign outside the exhibit. This path of becoming an American citizen for the visitor is now "easier" in that the visitor can see, feel, and touch objects that connect the visitor to the peoples of the museum--Arab American citizens. The AANM positions its visitors to think past mere recognition and representation in order to interrogate the contingent, contradictory, and shifting cultural politics through which Arab American truths are encountered as localized knowledges, a lateral type of logic underpinning what the intellectual collaboration of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari termed "the minor" (1986, 1987). In this article the author strives to show how the pedagogies of the AANM--what he terms "minor pedagogies"--open up potential moments of rupture in how its visitors perceive culture, history, and politics. Minor pedagogies seek to overturn repressive, dominating images of thought crystalized in the broader cultural public by tradition or popularity. The author examines two permanent exhibits of the AANM--"Coming to America" and "Living in America"--and uses objects, displays, and aesthetics from these exhibits to explain how minor pedagogical moves by the museum enable visitors to learn about America through collective expressions of difference. After contextualizing the AANM as a pedagogical space within theories of museums as contested spaces of knowledge, he provides an overview of the Deleuze|Guattari concepts of the minor and major to inform how he perceives instances of minor pedagogies within two of the permanent exhibits of the AANM. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Number of References: | 21 |
| Entry Date: | 2014 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1033431 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
|---|---|
| Header | DbId: eric DbLabel: ERIC An: EJ1033431 AccessLevel: 3 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
| IllustrationInfo | |
| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: An/Other American Life: Minor Pedagogies of Culture and Heritage in the Arab American National Museum – Name: Language Label: Language Group: Lang Data: English – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Helmsing%2C+Mark%22">Helmsing, Mark</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Review+of+Education%2C+Pedagogy+%26+Cultural+Studies%22"><i>Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies</i></searchLink>. 2014 36(1):71-88. – Name: Avail Label: Availability Group: Avail Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals – Name: PeerReviewed Label: Peer Reviewed Group: SrcInfo Data: Y – Name: Pages Label: Page Count Group: Src Data: 18 – Name: DatePubCY Label: Publication Date Group: Date Data: 2014 – Name: TypeDocument Label: Document Type Group: TypDoc Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Evaluative<br />Opinion Papers – Name: Subject Label: Descriptors Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Museums%22">Museums</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Exhibits%22">Exhibits</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Arabs%22">Arabs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cultural+Influences%22">Cultural Influences</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Citizenship%22">Citizenship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Consciousness+Raising%22">Consciousness Raising</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cultural+Awareness%22">Cultural Awareness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Attitudes%22">Social Attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Methods%22">Teaching Methods</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Immigration%22">Immigration</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Influences%22">Social Influences</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Michigan%22">Michigan</searchLink> – Name: DOI Label: DOI Group: ID Data: 10.1080/10714413.2014.866817 – Name: ISSN Label: ISSN Group: ISSN Data: 1071-4413 – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: When entering the permanent exhibit titled "Living in America" in the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan, visitors are greeted with a sign that reads "Ahlan wa Sahlan." It is a greeting that translates in English to: "Your path is easier now that you are with us." The visitor, "you," is now a part of the "us." The exhibit is designed to express how Arab Americans have participated in the making of the United States through different processes of becoming citizens. These processes are represented by an array of political, economic, and cultural practices invoked by objects ranging a stub from an election ballot for a city council race; a cash register machine from a small grocery store owned and operated by an Arab American family; and a rack of recorded music albums produced by an Arab American music mogul. These objects draw the visitor from "your path" and onto the path of the "us" invoked by the sign outside the exhibit. This path of becoming an American citizen for the visitor is now "easier" in that the visitor can see, feel, and touch objects that connect the visitor to the peoples of the museum--Arab American citizens. The AANM positions its visitors to think past mere recognition and representation in order to interrogate the contingent, contradictory, and shifting cultural politics through which Arab American truths are encountered as localized knowledges, a lateral type of logic underpinning what the intellectual collaboration of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari termed "the minor" (1986, 1987). In this article the author strives to show how the pedagogies of the AANM--what he terms "minor pedagogies"--open up potential moments of rupture in how its visitors perceive culture, history, and politics. Minor pedagogies seek to overturn repressive, dominating images of thought crystalized in the broader cultural public by tradition or popularity. The author examines two permanent exhibits of the AANM--"Coming to America" and "Living in America"--and uses objects, displays, and aesthetics from these exhibits to explain how minor pedagogical moves by the museum enable visitors to learn about America through collective expressions of difference. After contextualizing the AANM as a pedagogical space within theories of museums as contested spaces of knowledge, he provides an overview of the Deleuze|Guattari concepts of the minor and major to inform how he perceives instances of minor pedagogies within two of the permanent exhibits of the AANM. – Name: AbstractInfo Label: Abstractor Group: Ab Data: ERIC – Name: Ref Label: Number of References Group: RefInfo Data: 21 – Name: DateEntry Label: Entry Date Group: Date Data: 2014 – Name: AN Label: Accession Number Group: ID Data: EJ1033431 |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1033431 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/10714413.2014.866817 Languages: – Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 18 StartPage: 71 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Museums Type: general – SubjectFull: Exhibits Type: general – SubjectFull: Arabs Type: general – SubjectFull: Cultural Influences Type: general – SubjectFull: Citizenship Type: general – SubjectFull: Consciousness Raising Type: general – SubjectFull: Cultural Awareness Type: general – SubjectFull: Social Attitudes Type: general – SubjectFull: Teaching Methods Type: general – SubjectFull: Immigration Type: general – SubjectFull: Social Influences Type: general – SubjectFull: Michigan Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: An/Other American Life: Minor Pedagogies of Culture and Heritage in the Arab American National Museum Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Helmsing, Mark IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2014 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 1071-4413 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 36 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
