On Being Different: Diversity and Multiculturalism in the North American Mainstream. This item is unavailable.On Being Different: Diversity and Multiculturalism in the North American Mainstream

On Being Different provides an up-to-date, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary account of diversity and multiculturalism in the United States and Canada. Kottak (recent inductee to The National Academ of Scineces) and Kozaitis clarify essential issues, themes, and topics in the study of diversity, including ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. The book also presents an original theory of multiculturalism, showing how human agency and culture work to organize and change society. The authors use rich and varied ethnographic examples, from North America and abroad, to help students apply the material to their own lives, and thus gain a better understanding of diversity and multiculturalism.

Boxes at the beginning of each chapter are intended to inspire critical thinking, and give students a chance to reflect on aspects of their own life, their multicultural society, and today's world. Some boxes examine current events or debates. Others are personal accounts, which add feeling to the subject matter.
A glossary defining terms boldfaced in each chapter is found at the end of the book, along with a bibliography of references cited.
This text takes a truly cross-cultural perspective using examples from cultures outside North America, not just different "cultures" within the United States.