Lisa R. Pruitt is a professor on the legal faculty at UC Davis Law School who blogs at Legal Ruralism and often touches upon "a common theme of her research interests [which] is how law and legal institutions manage and respond to cultural difference and cultural change".
Looks like an interesting topic for study. See in this regard: Life in the USA : American Culture.
With a hat tip to Legal Ruralism, William R. Ferris, past chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in a NY Times op-ed titled Put Culture in the Cabinet, suggests establishing a Secretary of Culture.
Ferris argues that in spite of the fact that the U.S. has tremendous cultural institutions, there is no central organizational body for them. As he writes:
"But as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1997 to 2001, I learned firsthand that these institutions, though united by a shared goal, can sometimes run into conflict with one another. There were bureaucratic tangles, overlaps and missteps that, with foresight, could have been avoided."The creation of a Secretary of Culture looks like a good idea to us, especially when we view the video Culture in America by the current chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Gioia:
The motto of the NEA is: "A Great Nation Deserves Great Art".
See also in this general context the important issue of the sustainability of culture:
Is the American Way of Life Sustainable?
