The idea of the United States as an exceptional nation will be the topic of the next Yotie Talks program at Cal State San Bernardino.

“American Exceptionalism & American Identity Past, Present, and Future” will be presented as a brown-bag discussion with university faculty on Thursday, April 19, at the John M. Pfau Library in room PL-4005  from 2-3:30 p.m.

According to the online New World Encyclopedia, “American exceptionalism has been historically referred to as the belief that the United States differs qualitatively from other developed nations because of its national credo, historical evolution, or distinctive political and religious institutions. The difference is often expressed in American circles as some categorical superiority, to which is usually attached some alleged proof, rationalization or explanation that may vary greatly depending on the historical period and the political context. However, the term can also be used in a negative sense by critics of American policies to refer to a willful nationalistic ignorance of faults committed by the American government.”

Faculty from across campus will give brief remarks on a set of topics related to this contentious subject, followed by questions and discussion.

Some themes explored will be:

  • “American and Other Exceptionalisms: What’s Exceptional and What’s Not?” by Robert Blackey, history;
  • “Persistent Myths of American Exceptionalism and Its Christian Foundation,” by Mary Texeira, sociology;
  • “No Place Like Home: Manifest Destiny, Gender and Building the Exceptional Home in the American Southwest,” by Yvette Saavedra, history; and  
  • “The Reception and Impact of American Exceptionalism Around the World,” by Jeremy Murray, history.

Yotie Talks, which follows a format similar to the TED Talks, is organized by the University Diversity Committee at CSUSB, and is free and open to the public. Parking at CSUSB is $6.

For more information, contact Jeremy Murray of the CSUSB Department of History at  jmurray@csusb.edu.