Multiculturalism on Campus: Theory, Models, and Practices for Understanding Diversity and Creating Inclusion ed. by Michael J. Cuyjet, et al. (review)

Prior to 2011 it seemed everyone was aware of and talking about the growing diversity of college students in the U.S., but until the first edition of Multiculturalism on Campus (Cuyjet, Howard-Hamilton & Cooper, 2011) there had not been a solid, in-depth, and wide-ranging book that examined that diversity in a meaningful way. That first edition, along with Diverse Millennial Students in College (Bonner, Marbley, & Howard-Hamilton, 2011), offered rich descriptions and valuable perspectives about the diversity of college students. Reviews of the first edition of Multiculturalism on Campus used words like “comprehensive,” “practical”, and “informative” to describe it. I find that this second edition, without a doubt, measures up to those words of acclaim. This second edition of the book is similar to the first in format and function and incorporates timely, relevant, and substantive additions.

This second edition, like its predecessor, is divided into three parts that loosely reflect the tripartite model of multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills (Pope & Reynolds, 1997). Part 1 (Awareness of Cultural Issues) delves deeply into important concepts and context that set up the subsequent sections of the book. The authors of the four chapters in part 1 discuss various competency models (Howard-Hamilton, Cuyjet, & Cooper), oppression theory (Howard-Hamilton & Hinton), environmental theory (Cuyjet & Meriwether) and—a new chapter for this edition—intersectionality (Linder). I found this fourth chapter particularly helpful in unpacking the concept of intersectionality and distinguishing an identity-explicit approach to the book (i.e., centering a single identity within each chapter for ease of comprehension) from identity-exclusive (i.e., assuming that the experiences of an identity group are monolithic). Linder challenges readers to consider how students’ multiple identities may influence the identity discussed in the subsequent chapters. This became an important frame for me as I moved into the second portion of the book.

Part 2 (Information on Cultural Populations), which makes up the bulk of the book, focuses on 12 different student demographics: Latinx (Hernández & Ortiz); Asian American and Pacific Islanders (Park & Poon); African American (Shuford & Flowers); Native American (Bitsóí); biracial and multiracial (Renn & Johnston-Guerrero); White (Linder); international (Terzian & Osborne); men and women (Dunn & Badaszewski); lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT; Kniess, Cawthon, & Walker); nontraditional (MacKinnon & Floyd); students with disabilities (Wisbey & Kalivoda); and religious and spiritual identities (Dean & Means). Consistent across these chapters, for the most part, the authors effectively discuss history of participation in higher education, terminology, demographics, access, identity development theory, characteristics and challenges, and recommendations for practice. Readers seeking a template across the chapters when it comes to these content areas might be unsatisfied; but the reality is that the slightly different approaches to the populations described in these chapters warrant differing emphases which reflect the expertise of the chapter authors. Finally, most (but not all) chapters conclude with a case study and/or discussion questions pertinent to the content of the chapter.

A single chapter comprises part 3 of the book and focuses on cultural competence and critical consciousness (Cooper & Linder). This chapter offers steps to incorporate critical consciousness into one’s diversity work through the concepts of intersectionality and the principles of social justice education. Although the authors critique multicultural competence (Pope, Reynolds & Mueller, 2004), their argument is diminished by an incomplete and reductive definition of the construct. Also, despite their view that critical consciousness is an advancement over multicultural competence, I assert that the two are not mutually exclusive concepts or goals and that institutions benefit when we utilize as many models and tools as possible.

Multiculturalism on Campus continues to be the comprehensive and practical text its predecessor was. It is an excellent resource and is perhaps the go-to book for in-depth and perceptive descriptions of a wide range of cultural populations. It complements and would be a suitable...