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AMERICAN ETHNIC HISTORYTABLE OF CONTENTS PART I PART II Chapter 2 Prehistoric Native Americans PART III Chapter 7 Foundations of European America PART IV Chapter 14 European Americans: White America Preface Ethnicity has many implications in cultural pluralistic societies. In addition to the U.S.’s historic black-white divide, many other ethnicities having national implications. Native Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans are groups with longstanding importance for the U.S. More recently Subcontinent Indians, Arab and Muslim Americans and other immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the Caribbean and other parts of the world are of increasing contemporary significance. This cultural pluralism, diverse ethnic groups living together in a single society, has many implications. Most Americans need to develop effective ways of dealing with people of different cultures. The “helping professions” such as social work, psychology, education, nursing and medicine, especially need personal, interpersonal, professional and organization skills for effectively managing the challenges presented by cultural diversity. In recent years, professional organizations have called for increasing cultural awareness and sensitivity in the educational curriculum of students preparing for these occupations. Similarly, colleges and universities have implemented “cultural diversity” requirements in their general requirements, mandating that students learn about the nature of multicultural American, past and present. Experts who study cross-cultural relations and provide cross-cultural training concur in emphasizing three major aspects of the development of cross-cultural competency and make us better prepared to effectively address the challenges presented by cultural diversity (see Winkelman 2005, Chapter 1 and 2006, chapter 3). These are: This book, and its companion Cultural Awareness, Sensitivity and Competence (Winkelman 2005), provides material for orienting students and professional to how to effectively manage the challenges presented by cultural diversity. The present volume, American Ethnic History addresses this first aspect of cross-cultural competency in providing information about specific American ethnic groups and their cultural dynamics, particularly historical influences, cultural systems, and psychocultural patterns. The companion text covers the later aspects of cross-cultural competence, knowledge of the general dynamics of adaptation to intercultural differences. The first chapter here outlines the general cultural systems and psychocultural models used to characterize American culture and ethnicity and organize the chapters of the book. This approach provides what is a unique approach in studying ethnic relations in the U.S., an approach based around the concept of culture. The remaining text is organized around three major sections, the first one addressing colonial America, the second one the 18th and 19th century developments of the U.S., and the third one the dynamics of ethnic groups and interethnic relations in the 20th century. Together they provide an understanding of how we have become a multicultural society, and points to the directions of our future developments.
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