This book examines ethnic studies and multiculturalism movements at the higher education level. It notes the different viewpoints of these two movements, with ethnic studies usually involving a focus on a single ethnic group at the departmental level, whereas multiculturalism involves infusion of multiethnic themes into the curriculum across departments. The book is organized into three parts. Part 1, an overview, introduces multiculturalism and education by reviewing developments prior to 1960 and then examines the terms "ethnicity,""race," and "social class" as social science concepts. Part 2 looks at contemporary multicultural education and ethnic studies noting different meanings of multiculturalism and the lack of interaction between multiculturalism and international area studies. The development of ethnic studies since 1960 is reviewed and efforts to secure greater academic legitimacy while maintaining the activism which accounted for a discipline's origins are discussed. Part 3 considers both the constraints and the potential strategies for furthering ethnic and multicultural studies. It finds that the social and political landscape today is filled with increased intergroup competition and conflict. It argues for exploring the melding of ethnic and multicultural studies through such strategies as focusing resources on common conceptual frameworks, concentrating on themes which cut across groups, and taking a holistic approach to ethnic studies. (Contains approximately 170 references.) (DB)