Fernando Vidagañ Murgui (Valencia) durante preparaciones de su tesis doctoral ¨Emerson filósofo: la dispute entre la filosofía y la poesía en América¨, visitó, en 2023, la Universidad de Opole y colaboró con dr Skowronski durante su estancia y después. Defendió su tesis en la Facultad de Filosofía de la Universidad de Valencia en 12 de abril, 2024 – dr Skowronski como un miembro del tribunal.
Idea
The course focuses on widening Spanish vocabulary and some grammar structures using comparative exercises that use similar lexicons and similar or corresponding grammar structures in English. The main idea is that students can enlarge their Spanish language skills, mainly oral, by learning and practicing similar or identical words (cognates), and similar grammar / corresponding constructions in English. A good development of this project is talking, in English and Spanish, about the language, cultural, and political relations between the English-speaking world and the Spanish-speaking world, especially at the points where they directly meet: e.g., US Hispanics, Gibraltar, Guantanamo, US-Mexican Wall, the Falklands/Malvinas.
I want to thank my UO students for their cooperation during this course.
Amongst the themes discussed:
1 Multiculturalism from the sociological, political, ideological, and philosophical perspectives. 2 Canada as the first country to officially proclaim multiculturalist policy in 1971. 3 Canada’s classic mosaic model of multiculturalism versus the US’s classic models: WASP and The Melting Pot. 4 Multiculturalism vs globalization, diversity, culture pluralism. 5 Language multiculturalist policies in Canada and the US on the state level and provincial / state levels (e.g., Quebec, Alaska). 6 Public policy objectives in Canada. 7 Ethnic, language, and religious groups in Canada and the US. 8 Hispanics in the US. 9 Selected events and institutions in the US and Canada seen from the multiculturalist perspective. 10 The US-Mexican Wall as a symbol of multiculturalist challenges. 11 Critique of multiculturalism from various perspectives: cosmopolitan, national identity, feminist, universalist, post-colonial, economic, and others. 12 Canada’s and US’s multiculturalism seen from European and global perspectives.
I want to thank my UO students for their cooperation during the course.
SEE MORE HERE
The Cultural Pluralism, Values and Meaningful Life Project to be realized within Berlin Practical Philosophy International Forum, e.V., aims at showing and discussing the complexity, heritage, and achievements of various cultures in the context of their ideas about the good, worthy, and meaningful life.
Probably, each established form of collective culture puts forward specific models for the good life and offers long-term values and ideals that are worthy of realization throughout all human life, not merely at some of its stages. For example, eudaimonia (happiness) and aiming at wisdom in ancient Greece, sanctity and aiming at salvation in some religious cultures, heroism in patriotism-oriented political cultures, family life in traditional cultures, cultivation of native language in ethnic cultures, or financial success in consumption-oriented cultures.
A culture or sub-culture that is deprived of such all-life-long ideals is incomplete or immature though, perhaps, inspiring from some other points of view. We can see much of it on the Internet, especially on social media. The technological revolution and the digital culture that it generates, accelerate many cultural transformations in many contemporary societies that, indirectly, have a profound impact on ideals that refer to the meaningful life of its members, especially the young.
Discussing cultures understood collectively does not preclude us from elaborating on culture understood individually, according to the Ciceronian model of cultura animi or cultus animi, which is the individual cultivation of the mind. Originally an agricultural metaphor for the cultivation of the individual soul or mind, it came to be associated in the West with the liberal arts, philosophy, and the humanities.
Our ambition is to develop these two, individual and collective, meanings of the term ‘culture’ so as to get culturally enriched and, on the other hand, contribute to the contemporary debates about the condition of cultures in their plurality and their basic values.
Chris Skowroński, PhD
There is a growing concern about living a meaningful life among those living in different contexts of cultural diversity, be it the American melting pot, the union of European nations, the multiculturally globalized, the multiformity of tribalism of various stripes, and the fashionable cyber bubbles of opinion and commentary that drive the outlooks of millions of uninformed consumers. This book argues for a wisdom that incorporates a reference for both knowledge and self-knowledge, as well as life experience and cultural traditions that have stood the test of time, all contributing to a framework in which we can navigate our lives.
Copyright Year: 2023 E-Book (PDF) Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68005-0 Released online: 28 Sep 2023 Hardback Availability: Not Yet Published ISBN: 978-90-04-51558-1
Publication date: 28 Sep 2023.
Recent Comments