The Curriculum Crusades and the Conservative Backlash

Abstract

Follwing newspaper coverage of multiculturalism and “politicalcorrectness” in American higher education is like trying to make sense out of another volatile current event: civil unrest in Yugoslavia. In both cases the polarities of issues seem clear, but a distant reader seldom understands die passion and details that sustain the adversaries. And, whetherone looksat a depU1rnent of Englishat The UniversityofTexasor a border city in the Republicof Bosnia-Hercegovina, from week to weekit is difficult to knowwhich faction has gained or lostterritory.