Cultural Literacy

In The ModularWorld, Context Matters...

"Cultural Lireracy, unlike expert knowledge, is meant to be shared by everyone. It is that shifting body of information that our culture has found useful, and therefore worth preserving. Only a small fraction of what we read and hear gains a secure place on the memory shelves of the culturally literate, but the importance of this information is beyond question. This shared information is the foundation of our public discourse. It allows us to comprehend our daily newspapers and news reports, to understand our peers and leaders, and even to share our jokes. Cultural literacy is the context of what we say and read; it is part of what makes Americans American."

The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil