At a multiethnic school in the northwest region, the author chose 670 minority and Han college students as study subjects and investigated the relationships among the three variables of ethnic contact, implicit ethnic theories (essentialism vs. constructivism), and attitudes on interaction. The study results show that ethnic contact can facilitate…

This study utilized a network model in order to explore the relationship between patterns of student engagement and affordances for interaction with diverse peers for 12,852 students at 7 universities. The institutions are similar in type and size, with relatively moderate levels of structural racial diversity, and a range of overall…

In this study, we sought to understand African-American students' higher-education experiences in predominantly White universities. We utilized Baxter's relational dialectics theory to study components of focus-group discussions in order to understand the discourse and meaning-making process of participants. Our findings provide insight into the…

What pedagogies and inter-/intragroup dynamics facilitate increased understanding of issues of race, white racial identity development, and racism in the U.S.? Can white students effectively learn about whiteness by themselves as well as in collaboration with students of diverse racial backgrounds? This project examines white student learning in…

This study explores college students' reactions to engaging in experiences with diverse others that students found uncomfortable, interactions that disrupted students' current beliefs or values. Our examination of these experiences was grounded in theory and research on intergroup contact and anxiety and developmental models of self-authorship…

This longitudinal investigation adds to the growing body of scholarship on the psychosocial costs of racism to Whites, which refer to the consequences of being in the dominant position in an unjust, hierarchical system of societal racism. We examined how White students' affective costs of racism (i.e., White empathy, guilt, and fear) changed…

Interracial dating on American campuses has had a relatively stormy past. Until the past three decades or so, it was outlawed in some states. Southern institutions, in particular, such as the infamous Bob Jones University have made this issue divisive even among their own constituencies. Age and generation seem to be cogent factors with younger…

Today college campuses are superficially quiet. The loud, overt racial hostility of the 1960's has faded in many places, but it has been replaced by a strained and separate peace. (Author/AM)

The study determined: (1) differences in dating preference attitudes for Black Chicano, and Anglo men regarding women of another race; (2) differences in dating preference attitudes for black, Chicano, and Anglo women regarding men of another race; (3) whether parental influence is perceived by college students to be more determinative in dating…

This study investigated the roles of both belief similarity and dialect style on white subjects' attitudes and nonverbal behaviors toward black or white people in a face to face interaction. The experimental design consisted of six cells defined by two levels of belief similarity crossed by three levels of the race and dialect manipulations (white…

Investigated the experiences of minority students with their white peers on predominantly white campuses. Focus groups revealed how white students' purported color-blindness regarding race often blinded them to their own color conscious behavior and the subsequent stereotyping effects. Participants' discussions examined stereotyping, assimilation,…

Reviews racial bias and racial intolerance among college students during the late 1980s. Asserts that campus bias-related indents are predictable outcomes of increasingly self-interested values and limited personal experience with racial and ethnic diversity. Discusses the need to create more opportunities for contact and interaction among…

Although little research is available on the evaluation of peer intervention programs, several strategies and approaches can be used by educators to determine the effectiveness of prejudice reduction efforts. Presents a sample program evaluation. Notes the importance of a clear theoretical framework and understanding of the factors to be examined…

Presents a peer training model illustrating how a campus can involve its students, faculty, and administrators in effective prejudice-reducing strategies. Presents the operational assumptions governing the National Coalition-Building Institute's training programs, the theory and methodology of its prejudice reduction model, and a process for…

Seven articles explore ways in which students, administrators, and faculty can initiate and sustain conversation about the public life they share, and about dealing with the multiculturalism of today's campuses. The articles are: (1) "Backing into the Future: Columbus, Cleopatra, Custer, & the Diversity Revolution" by Carlos E.…