By Malcolm A. Kline

In order to find out exactly what colleges are teaching in multicultural studies classes, AIA decided to look at one university's Cultural Diversity course offerings.

Our correspondent from the University of North Florida warns us, "None of them are too conservative in any way." Indeed, the school's catalogue lists such culturally diverse courses as "Race, Gender, and the American Economy," "Women's History," "Race/Gender/Politics," and "Sex, Race and Class." Also offered is a course in "Cultural Geography," that looks at "how diverse cultures organize themselves spatially to form diverse geographic areas."

"It has been my experience that the more moderate courses are not actually offered," our man warns us, "while there are many offerings of the gay/race and sex courses."

"These courses have been nicknamed 'Communist Indoctrination 101,'" he explains.

That said, AIA looked at the catalogue entry for "Introduction to Anthropology" which promises, "The major subfields of archeology, physical anthropology, linguistics and cultural anthropology are examined for an understanding of contemporary and past cultural issues such as the rise of civilization, origins of language, and the roots of social inequality."

In like fashion, the anthropology course on "Kinship and Family" looks at such topics as "the social construction of gender roles, descent, courtship, marriage, inheritance, inculturation, different forms of family organization and their implications for the society at large, society values and power dynamics."

"In the anthropological tradition, students will be presented with detailed case-studies of Western as well as Non-Western societies and cultures."

If you would like to comment on this article, please e-mail mal.kline@academia.org