Citizen Kane , Collecting, and the American Character: What, Why, and How Charlie Collects

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-26
Author(s):  
Kathy Merlock Jackson
Keyword(s):  
American Character ◽  
Citizen Kane

The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character.

1951 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Read Bain ◽  
David Riesman ◽  
Ruel Denney ◽  
Nathan Glazer
Keyword(s):  
Lonely Crowd ◽  
American Character

The Lonely Crowd : a Study of the Changing American Character

1952 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-132
Author(s):  
F. C. Bartlett
Keyword(s):  
Lonely Crowd ◽  
American Character

Morality for the “Democracy of God”: George Albert Coe and the Liberal Protestant Critique of American Character Education, 1917–1940

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Setran
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Character Education ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Social Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Columbia University ◽  
World War ◽  
Moral Decision Making ◽  
American Character

AbstractIn the years between World War I and World War II in the United States, public and religious educators engaged in an extended struggle to define the appropriate nature of character education for American youth. Within a post-war culture agonizing over the sanctions of moral living in the wake of mass violence and vanishing certitudes, a group of conservative educators sought to shore up traditional values through the construction of morality codes defining the characteristics of the “good American.” At the same time, a group of liberal progressive educators set forth a vigorous critique of these popular character education programs. This article analyzes the nature of this liberal critique by looking at one leading liberal spokesperson, George Albert Coe. Coe taught at Union Theological Seminary and Teachers College, Columbia University, and used his platform in these institutions to forge a model of character education derived from the combined influences of liberal Protestantism and Deweyan progressive education. Coe posited a two-pronged vision for American moral education rooted in the need for both procedural democracy (collaborative moral decision making) and a democratic social order. Utilizing this vision of the “democracy of God,” Coe demonstrated the inadequacies of code-based models, pointing in particular to the anachronism of traditional virtues in a world of social interdependence, the misguided individualism of the virtues, and the indoctrinatory nature of conservative programs. He proposed that youth be allowed to participate in moral experimentation, adopting ideals through scientific testing rather than unthinking allegiance to authoritative commands. Expanding the meaning of morality to include social as well as personal righteousness, he also made character education a vehicle of social justice. In the end, I contend that Coe's democratic model of character education, because of its scientific epistemological hegemony and devaluing of tradition, actually failed to promote a truly democratic character.

scholarly journals War and the Contest over National Identity

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 586-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta L. Coles
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Peace Movement ◽  
American People ◽  
American Character ◽  
Us Military ◽  
American President ◽  
American National Identity ◽  
Gulf Crisis ◽  
The Persian Gulf ◽  
Historical Moment

This paper looks at a recent historical moment in which the American national identity was defined and contested in the public arena. The Persian Gulf crisis of 1990–91 presents a case in point in which official actors attempted to define the American character and in so doing prescribed particular actions necessary to fulfill what it means to be an American. President George Bush's discourse used the crisis to rejuvenate US prestige and American confidence. He described Americans as unique in esteemed values and America as the only country capable of leading the world. In so doing, he invited American participation in support for US military intervention. On the other side, the peace movement chose to emphasize American weaknesses, domestic problems, and the gullible nature of the American people. In so doing, it attempted to shame Americans into supporting the anti-war movement.

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