Democratic education in an age of difference

by Richard Guarasci

Over the past two decades, American campuses have become embroiled in debates and controversies over multiculturalism, curriculum, free speech, and other issues of social, ethnic, sexual, and racial differences. But out of this turbulence some exciting, innovative experiments have emerged to show students and academic leaders that there are promising maps for bridging acknowledged differences and creating a dynamic new unity behind the principles of democracy. Democratic Education in an Age of Difference details some of those experiments - among them learning communities, residential communities, and public service - and reveals how each approach fosters the development of democratic sensibility, citizenship skills, and multicultural fluency.