MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN GEOGRAPHY IN THE USA - AN INTRODUCTION

The increasing presence of students of diverse racial/ethnic and inter national origins in colleges and universities in the USA has prompted efforts to revise and create courses and curricula to respond to 'dive rsity' and introduce multicultural perspectives. In this Arena symposi um we address current practices and the prospects for multicultural te aching in geography. Lee's introduction reviews the development of the diversity movement and the arguments advanced for and against multicu ltural education. Size then focuses on the representation of minoritie s within geographic institutions in the US;I, nle papers that follow p resent the perspectives of both administrators and teaching faculty, r ecognising that change requires support and engagement across these le vels. Corey examines how institutional priorities and programme develo pments in a large state university shape openings for interdisciplinar y offerings to which geographers can contribute. McConnell reports the outcomes of his participation in a project to transform a course on t he geography of the United States to one that addresses American plura lism. Darden advocates a particular 'social reconstructionist' vision in his development of an upper-level urban geography course. Berry tak es Itp the pedagogical challenge of incorporating diverse voices into courses that highlight race, gender and ethnicity. In presenting their work, the authors hope to encourage other geographers to share approa ches to curricular transformation and to strengthen efforts to diversi fy the make-up of the profession.