According to a survey conducted in the early 1990s, over one-half of the 196 colleges and universities surveyed were already introducing multiculturalism into departmental course offerings. This thoroughly documented book was written to help instructors integrate multicultural content, processes, and strategies into their courses in order to meet the needs of a changing student population, and to better prepare students for effective functioning in a diverse society. The authors point out that the information in the book is relevant for homogeneous as well as highly diverse campuses because a transformed course provides a more comprehensive view of the discipline and better prepares all students for world citizenship.

The two-dimensional model presented here identifies three levels of change (exclusive, inclusive, transformed) and four course components in which change can be applied: content, instructional strategies, assessment of student knowledge, and classroom dynamics.