A review of critical race pedagogies in university diversity seminars and the multicultural curriculum

Abstract

What are the political and pedagogical underpinnings of university diversity seminars and the multicultural curriculum? Can this sort of diversity work contribute to antiracist education in ways that demonstrate commitment to legal and professional standards? Can it be delivered in ways that enable students to engage critically with race and racism beyond the conservative and liberal approaches that typically dominate univesrity diversity seminars and the multicultural curriculum, if not the higher education sector per se? In order to respond to these questions, this review draws on the work of a number of critical race pedagogues, for example, bell hooks whose teaching and learning activities highligt power dynamics within university diversity seminars, thus providing an important alternative to dominant approaches to race and racism