ABSTRACT
Stanford University made national headlines when its faculty debated whether or not to change the core list of books that first-year students are required to read in its Western Culture Program, in response to faculty and student criticisms that works by non-Europeans and by women were not included in the “canon.” Likewise, the University of California at Berkeley received widespread media coverage when its faculty postponed voting on a proposal to add an “American cultures” course to the university’s list of graduation requirements. The actions garnered so much publicity because these two institutions rank among the world’s leading research universities. But they are by no means the only campuses where such debates are taking place. As more and more institutions begin to grapple with various aspects of ethnic diversity in the coming years, it is important to understand why current efforts at enlarging the curriculum have generated such heated exchanges between supporters and opponents of the proposed reforms.
