Prejudice as an Obstacle to Multiculturalism in the Teaching of Design History

Abstract

The traditional approach to teaching interior design history is an examination of the dominant styles developed by and for politically dominant groups within western European societies. This approach emphasizes the unity of cultures and conflicts with the concepts of diversity and multiculturalism prevalent in American higher education. It also ignores contributions to design history by a variety of important ethnic groups. The goal of this discussion is to increase educators’ awareness of subtle and overt preiudice contained in design history literature. This prejudice is against ethnic groups that made significant contributions and comprise a large portion of the American populace. By adopting standard texts and assigning readings from major works, teachers of interior design history may be perceived by students as champions of the status quo and opponents of multiculturalism, and they may be identified with the narrow Eurocentrism evident in the work of many significant historians. Interior design history texts currently used by American colleges and universities were reviewed to identify prejudice in the literature that creates obstacles to multiculturalism. The means by which design contributions of some ethnic groups are marginalized, devalued, or ignored are highlighted. Rather than avoiding texts that display prejudice yet provide important information and insight, teachers can broaden student understanding of the nature of historiography by discussing these subtle and overt prejudices. They can stress the vitality of historiography as a process that constantly reevaluates and reinterprets the past's impact on the present, stimulating student interest in and appreciation for nondominant groups.

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