Much of my memory of college is a blur. I remember the campus at Michigan State University and how cold it was during the winter. One of the things I remember is walking across a section of campus nicknamed the Frozen Tundra to get to humanities class on the south campus. I do not remember the professor’s name, but I can see in my mind\u2019s eye his hippie-looking long gray hair, untrimmed beard, and unkempt appearance. His favorite things were swearing in class, watching Fellini films, hating on Christians, and being obsessed with Friedrich Nietzsche. Enduring the three required humanities courses left me with a brief, but incomplete exposure to postmodernism. Although I had this brief exposure to what became postmodernism, I was unsure how I would ever use this information in real-life situations.<\/p>\n
Stephen R. C. Hicks is Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, Illinois, Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, and Senior Scholar at The Atlas Society. In his book, Explaining Postmodernism<\/em>: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault<\/em>, he states,<\/p>\n Metaphysically, postmodernism is anti-realist, holding that it is impossible to speak meaningfully about an independently existing reality. Postmodernism substitutes instead a social-linguistic, constructionist account of reality. Epistemologically, having rejected the notion of an independently existing reality, postmodernism denies that reason or any other method is a means of acquiring objective knowledge of that reality. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n Postmodernism marks a turn from the age of reason to a time where \u201ctruth is rejected explicitly and consistency can be a rare phenomenon.\u201d[2]<\/a> I struggle to fully understand postmodernism and all of its contradictory discourses;<\/p>\n On the one hand, all truth is relative; on the other hand, postmodernism tells it like it really is. On the one hand, all cultures are equally deserving of respect; on the other, Western culture is uniquely destructive and bad. Values are subjective\u2014but sexism and racism are really evil. Technology is bad and destructive\u2014and it is unfair that some people have more technology than others. Tolerance is good and dominance is bad\u2014but when postmodernists come to power, political correctness follows.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n However, in my research in creating culturally relevant religious curriculum for African American children, I have found some usefulness in postmodernism academic themes such as Critical Race Theory, a subset of Critical Legal Theory.<\/p>\n Critical Race Theory clarifies the inequities of education. \u201cAs we attempt to make linkages between critical race theory and education, we contend that the voice of people of color is required for a complete analysis of the educational system.\u201d[4]<\/a> The same applies to the religious education of African American children. It is imperative that people of color who are also people of faith provide input in the development of curriculum in religious education.<\/p>\n Although postmodernism is still difficult for me to fully understand, I am glad that I have found something useful in postmodernism theories that will help with my research.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a>. Hicks, Stephen R. C. Explaining Postmodernism:<\/em> Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault<\/em>. Scholargy Publishing, 2004:6.<\/p>\n