Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education

Fall 2006 (Vol. 8, No. 2)

Theme: Multicultural Education in Higher Education
Guest Editor: Melanie E. L. Bush

Overview | Articles | Open Forum | Instructional Idea | Reviews of Resources

Overview

EMME has been in publication for eight years since 1999.  With this last issue, EMME will come to rest and pass its spirit on to a new peer-review journal,  International Journal of Multicultural Education (IJME), at the end of June 2007.  Continuing commitment to open access to academic knowledge and educational opportunities, this new journal, as well as back issues of EMME, will be made available free of charge to all interested readers. 

In this issue, I am pleased to announce that the theme centers multicultural education in higher education. This theme is particularly appropriate for the last issue of EMME because it closes a circle.  Eight years ago, this journal was born in the context of higher education with the goal of engaging scholars, practitioners, and students of multicultural education in dialogue.  In its lifetime, EMME has addressed 18 different themes of multicultural education, sometimes reaching out to broader educational arenas but never abandoning higher education. 

This last issue channels the attention of readers back to the "birth place" of the journal and to the role of higher education in advancing educational equity for all.  This issue features six scholarly articles; one instructional idea; one art review; and reviews of five profession books, one video, and five websites, all touching on the theme of "multicultural education in higher education."  In addition, Ndura's article on teacher reflections on multicultural encounters is presented in the Open Forum section.

Before introducing articles, I would like to acknowledge Dr. Melanie E. L. Bush from Adelphi University who has graciously served as Guest Editor of the Articles section.  Her knowledge of the discipline and sharp intuition have shaped this section to its level of excellence. 

Six articles in the Articles section and one in the Instructional Idea section address the higher education theme in their unique way. Robinson-Neal's critique of educational inequality, Jensen challenge of "fake neutrality," and Oden and Casey's comparison between Black Panther Party's service principles and service learning connect higher education issues with social history.  Other articles deal with multicultural issues in the context of higher education.  Oliver et al. report on an international master's program co-developed by two universities from the United States and a Central American country. Phillion et al. discuss partnership efforts between teacher education in a rural university and an urban school.  Abbate-Vaughn discusses standards and outcomes of multicultural teacher education. In the Instructional Idea section, Sinnreich's analytical narration of his teaching experience in a Polish university enlightens readers that people's cultural understanding of one minority group is not automatically translated into open-mindedness toward another minority group.

In addition to these excellent articles, readers will get an aesthetic treat from Caruso and Caruso's art review of Princeton University's 2006 exhibition of 58 personal folk art retablos.  Colorful examples illustrate the religious nature of such an art form created by Mexican immigrants over a span of 80 years.

I hope that you enjoy the issue and send comments to the editorial staff at emme@eastern.edu.  Please send your farewell comments to EMME.  

I would like to express my profound appreciation of all support and encouragement that readers and authors have given to EMME and editorial staff.  The editors and I are looking forward to serving you again next year through the International Journal of Multicultural Education (IJME, www.eastern.edu/publications/ijme).

Heewon Chang, Ph. D.
Editor-in-Chief
Associate Professor of Multicultural Education
Eastern University

Articles

MULTICULTURALISM IN TEACHER EDUCATION:
What to Assess, for How Long, and with What Expected Outcome? 
by Jorgelina Abbate-Vaughn
University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA.
[HTML version] [PDF version]

THE MYTH OF THE NEUTRAL PROFESSIONAL
by Robert Jensen
University of Texas at Austin, USA
[HTML version] [PDF version]

POWER TO THE PEOPLE:
Service Learning and Social Justice
 by Robert S. Oden & Thomas A. Casey
CSU Sacramento & San Francisco State University, USA.
[HTML version] [PDF version]
 

Instructional Idea

USING THE PAST TO CONFRONT THE PRESENT:
Teaching Minority History in Present Day Poland
by Helene J. Sinnreich
Youngstown State University, USA
[HTML version] [PDF version]

Reviews of Resources

ART REVIEW

ANGELS ON THE BORDER:
Religious Paintings by Mexican Immigrants
by Hwa Young Caruso & John Caruso
Art Review Co-Editors
[HTML version] [PDF version]

BOOK REVIEWS

Professional Literature

Brown, C. & Freeman, K. (2004). Black colleges: New perspectives on policy and practice. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Chesler, M., Crowfoot J., & Lewis, A. (2005). Challenging racism in higher education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Marx, S. (2006). Revealing the invisible: Confronting passive racism in teacher education. New York, NY: Routledge.

 Moody, J. (2004). Faculty diversity: Problems and solutions. New York, NY: Routledge Falmer.

Valverde, L. (2003). Leaders of color in higher education: Unrecognized triumphs in harsh institutions. Walnut Creek, CA: Rowman & Littlefield.