Multiculturalism is the best approach to helping higher education in the United States make the most of recent demographic changes. Multicultural curricular reform is the cornerstone to successful multicultural education. Isolationism by discipline, interest, or ethnic group, when temporary, is not intrinsically wrong but should be balanced with…

"General Education Today: A Critical Analysis of Controversies, Practices, and Reforms" (A 248-page book by Jerry G. Gaff, published by Jossey-Bass in 1983) is reviewed here as an important contribution to the abundant literature on general education. America is currently undergoing a general education revival. Part I of Gaff's book…

Curricular change which takes into account new scholarship and cultural diversity at the higher education level is discussed. Personal, professional, and institutional barriers to change are identified. Examples of successfully transformed curricula are given and guidelines (such as clearly stated goals and effective collaboration with other…

The quality of U.S. higher education as described in three early nineteenth century reports are reviewed and compared with similar recent reports in substance and approach. (MSE)

The loss of balance among the functions of the research university (instruction, basic and applied research, and professional training and service) produces a crisis of values. Many of the university's problems can be traced to this disequilibrium. Without increasing the value placed on teaching, curricular reform will be ineffectual. (MSE)

A survey of over 300 colleges and universities indicates that multicultural education is on the ascendancy. Educational issues are raised concerning the application of multicultural education principles on college campuses. These include philosophical issues, curricular issues, faculty issues, pedagogical issues, and the curriculum development…

The Sloan Foundation's New Liberal Arts Program aims to make a fundamental transformation in the liberal arts curriculum, by infusing applied mathematics and technological literacy. The program is examined by the president of Wellesley College in the context of current philosophical and practical constraints in higher education. (MSE)