By C M Paul
Kanniyakumari, Jan 4, 2022: A Christian Higher Education body launched a new reader on American Culture for Asian students simultaneously in India and USA.
The book entitled “American Popular Culture” published by Salesian College Sonada/Siliguri is available on-demand both in India and USA.
Book launch on December 27, 2021, took place during 19th General Body Meeting and Triennial meeting of All India Association of Christian Higher Education (AIACHE) held in Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
More than 150 delegates representing some 130 Christian colleges attended.
“Written in clear and simple English, the ebook will be made available to students in both AIACHE and Asia Network,” says AIACHE president Salesian Father George Thadathil.
Father Thadathil adds, “A limited run of hard copies will be printed after getting confirmation of the pre-publication orders and will be made available to the principals of colleges in India and America desirous of the same.”
The lead author John Haddad, chair of American Studies at the well-known Penn State University in eastern USA, and Glenn Shive former United Board Vice President, Hong Kong, the initiator of the project, were present at the virtual launch from Scotland.
The book is considered as a preparatory text for three reasons: first, for those who have aspirations or connections with the US to know how the US society emerged and grew over two centuries and more – as a preparation to embrace it, or, to acknowledge the already existing connections.
Second, for those who entered the world in the new millennium and are the Z Gen beginning their journey where the book almost ends, except for the last chapter – it’s an entry into the past of a nation which ruled the global scene for a century. This helps them understand the global transition they will witness in their life time. It will help them understand their elders who witnessed a parallel world in dominance – the European civilization and culture which remained as the focal attention of a generation and more for 100 years before them.
Third, the book has a more direct and explicit objective to achieve in as much as it is the culmination of a culture studies project written by American Authors for Asian students and published in India for the global consumption.
“This effort is indicative of the transition global culture is undergoing,” Father Thadathil remarked.
Thadathil also pointed out that the book was “an assessment of the travails through which the neglected, ostracized, dominated black population went through to achieve semblance of an egalitarian status – including for the Asian model minority in the US – the book is a throwback to the cultural transitions that Indian democracy needs to achieve to be truly Indian and global.”
The American Popular Culture begins with the early 1800s and ends with the early 21st century – a span of two centuries: 19th and 20th, tracking a decade to decade progress in its narration. The impact popular culture makes in shaping a generation and paves the way for the next is captured with measured clarity.
Advisor to the Asia Network lenn Shive has conceived of a web-based platform to enable Indian and American students to communicate with one another online using John Haddad’s book as a jumping off point for discussions about popular culture in America and in India.
Todd Goetz from Washington-Lee University in Virginia, will lead the design of the web platform linking Indian and American students in AIACHE and Asia Network.