Additional Appointments
Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies Emeritus
Research Interests
James A. Banks
James A. Banks is the Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies Emeritus and is the founding director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, which is now the Banks Center for Educational Justice. He was the Russell F. Stark University Professor at the University of Washington from 2001 to 2006. Professor Banks is a past president of the American Educational Research Association and of the National Council for the Social Studies. He is a specialist in social studies education, multicultural education, and diversity and citizenship education and has written widely in these fields. His books include Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies; Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Curriculum, and Teaching; Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society; Race, Culture, and Education: The Selected Works of James A. Banks, and Diversity, Transformative Knowledge, and Civic Education: Selected Essays. Professor Banks is the editor of the Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education; The Routledge International Companion to Multicultural Education; Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives; the Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education, and Citizenship Education and Global Migration: Implications for Theory, Research, and Teaching. He is also the editor of the Multicultural Education Series of books published by Teachers College Press, Columbia University. In 2020, there were more than 70 published books in this Series with others in various stages of development. Professor Banks is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. He is a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Research by Professor Banks on how educational institutions can improve race and ethnic relations has greatly influenced schools, colleges, and universities throughout the United States and the world. He is often called the “Father of Multicultural Education.” Professor Banks has given lectures on citizenship education and diversity in many different nations, including Australia, Canada, China, Cyprus, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, and New Zealand. His books have been translated into Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Korean,Turkish, and Arabic. A video archive and interview of Professor Banks appears on “Inside the Academy.”
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- Diversity, Transformative Knowledge, and Civic Education: Selected Essays. London, UK, 2020.
- Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 2001; Tenth Edition, 2019.
- Citizenship Education and Global Migration: Implications for Theory, Research, and Teaching. Washington, D.C.: American Educational Research Association. 2017
- Global Migration, Diversity, and Civic Education: Improving Policy and Practice. New York: Teacher's College Press, 2016.
- Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Curriculum and Teaching. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, 2001; 6th edition, Routledge, 2016.
- An Introduction to Multicultural Education. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, 1994; Sixth Edition, 2019. Translated and published in Japan by The Simul Press, 1996. Translated and published in Greece, 2006.
- Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2012
- The Routledge International Companion to Multicultural Education. London & New York: Routledge, 2009.
- Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, 1975. Second Edition, 1979; Third Edition, 1984; Fourth Edition, 1987, Fifth Edition, 1991, Sixth Edition, 1997. Seventh Edition, 2003. Eighth Edition, 2009.
- Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society. New York: Teachers College Press, Second Edition, 2007.
- Race, Culture, and Education: The Selected Works of James A. Banks. London & New York: Routledge, 2006.
- Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2003.
- Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley, Second Edition. 2003.
- Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge, and Action: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. New York: Teacher College Press, 1996.
- Honorary degrees
Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.), Bank Street College of Education, 1993.
Doctor of Letters (L.D.), University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 2000.
Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.), University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 200l.
Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.), DePaul University, Chicago, 2003.
Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.), Lewis and Clark College, 2004.
Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.), Grinnell College, 2006.
- Honors and academic societies
Graduated from Chicago City College with High Scholastic Honors
Graduated from Chicago State University with High Honors
Elected to the following honor societies: Phi Theta Kappa (Junior College); Mu Beta Phi (Science Education); Kappa Delta Pi (Education); Phi Kappa Phi (All Disciplines).
Elected as an Honorary Member, Golden Key National Honor Society, 1985.
Elected to the Laureate Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education, l997.
Elected to membership in the National Academy of Education, October, 2000.
Awarded the UCLA Medal (The University’s Highest Honor), University of California Los Angeles, June, 2005.
Annual Faculty Lecturer, 2004-2005, University of Washington.
Lifetime Achievement Award, National Association for Multicultural Education (with Cherry A. McGee Banks), 2018
Elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2021
- Awards
Recipient of the Association of Teacher Educators Distinguished Leadership Award, 1982.
Outstanding Service in Education Award, Seattle University Black Student Union, 1985.
Distinguished Scholar/Researcher on Minority Education Award, American Educational Research Association, Committee on the Role and Status of Minorities in Educational Research and Development, 1986.
Annie Ray Riffey Multicultural Award, REACH Center, 1992.
American Educational Research Association Research (AERA) Review Award for 1994.
Senior Career Scholar/ Researcher Award, American Educational Research Association, Committee on the Role and Status on Minorities in Educational Research and Development, 1996.
Outstanding Achievement Award for Excellence in Education, American Educational Research Association, Research Focus on Black Education Special Interest Group, 1996.
Recipient of the 1997 Book Award from the National Association of Multicultural Education for the Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education (shared with Cherry A. McGee Banks).
Recipient of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL) 1998 Presidents’ Award.
Jean Dresden Grambs Distinguished Career Research in Social Studies Award, National Council for the Social Studies, 2001.
Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Education, Michigan State University, 2004.
Distinguished Alumni Award, Michigan State University, 2005.
Inaugural Social Justice in Education Award, American Educational Research Association, 2004.
Recipient of the Social Justice Award, Fielding Graduate University, 2014.
Recipient (With Cherry A. Banks). 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award, National Association for Multicultural Education. Given at the NAME National Conference, held November 27-30, 2018, Memphis, Tennessee.
Recipient of the Friday Medal, Institute for Educational Innovation, Carolina State University, 2022
Recipient of The Irving Morrissett Award for Excellence in Social Science Education, The Social Science Education Consortium, Inc., June 25, 2022.
Recipient of the 2023 American Educational Research Association Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award
- Special appointments and recognitions
James J. Hill Visiting Professor, General College, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Spring Quarter, 1991.
Member, Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (1999, July 1- 2005, June 30)
Russell F. Stark University Professor, University of Washington (2000 to 2006)
The 29th Annual Faculty Lecturer, University of Washington, 2004-2005. The University's highest honor for a faculty member.
Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California, 2005-2006.
Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies, University of Washington, 2006 to 2019.
Tisch Distinguished Visiting Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2007.
Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, University of Washington, 2018.
- Presidency of national organizations
President, National Council for the Social Studies (1982)
President, American Educational Research Association (1997-1998)
- Selected book chapters & contributions to books
"The Need for Positive Racial Attitudes in Textbooks." In R. L. Green (Ed.) (1969). Racial Crisis in American Education ( pp. 167-185). Chicago, IL: Follett Educational Corporation.
"Liberating the Black Ghetto: Decision Making and Social Action." In R. Wisniewski
(Ed.) (1972). Teaching About Life in the City (pp. 159-183). Washington, D.C.: The National Council for the Social Studies (42nd Yearbook)."Curricular Models for an Open Society." In D. Della-Dora & J. E. House (Eds.) (1974). Education for an Open Society ( pp. 43-63). Washington, D.C.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
"Should Integration be a Societal Goal in a Pluralistic Nation?" In R. H. Muessig (Ed.) (1975). Controversial Issues in the Social Studies: A Contemporary Perspective (The NCSS 45th Yearbook ( pp. 197-228). Washington D.C.: National Council for the Social Studies.
"Cultural Pluralism: Implications for Curriculum Reform." In M. M. Tumin & W. Plotch (Eds.). (1977). Pluralism in a Democratic Society ( pp. 226-248). New York, NY: Praeger Publishers.
"The Implications of Multicultural Education for Teacher Education." In F. H. Klassen & D. M. Gollnick (Eds.) (1977), Pluralism and the American Teacher ( pp. 1-30). Washington, D.C.: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
"Values, Ethnicity, Social Science Research, and Educational Policy." In B. Ladner (Ed.). (1984). The Humanities in Precollegiate Education (, pp. 91-111). Eighty-Third Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press,
"Language, Ethnicity, Ideology, and Education." In L. V. D. Berg-Edlering, F. J. M. Rijcke, & L. V. Zuck (Eds.) (1983). Multicultural Education: A Challenge for Teachers, (pp. 33-5). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Foris Publications.
"Reducing Prejudice in Students: Theory, Research and Strategies." In K. Moodley (Ed.) (1985). Race Relations and Multicultural Education (pp. 65-87). Vancouver, B.C.: Centre for the Study of Curriculum and Instruction, The University of British Columbia.
With Walter C. Parker. "Social Studies Teacher Education." In W. Robert Houston, M. Haberman, & J. P. Sikula (Eds.) (1990). Handbook of Research on Teacher Education, (pp. 674-686). A project of the Association of Teacher Educators. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1990.
"Multicultural Education: Its Effects on Students' Racial and Gender Role Attitudes." In J. P. Shaver (Ed.) (1991). Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning (pp. 459-469) Sponsored by the National Council for the Social Studies. New York, NY: Macmillan.
"Fostering Language and Cultural Literacy in the Schools." In G. Imhoff (Ed.) (1990). Learning in Two Languages: From Conflict to Consensus in the Reorganization of Schools, (pp. 1-18). New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books.
"A Curriculum for Empowerment, Action and Change." In C. E. Sleeter (Ed.) (1991). Empowerment Through Multicultural Education (pp. 125-141, ff. 311-313). Albany: State University of New York Press.
"Multicultural Education: Approaches, Developments, and Dimensions." In J. Lynch, C. Modgil, & S. Modgil (Eds.) (1992). Education for Cultural Diversity: Convergence and Divergence (pp. 83-94). London, United Kingdom: The Falmer Press.
R. C. Atkinson & G. B. Jackson (Eds). Research and Education Reform: Roles for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Washington, D. C.: National Academy Press, 1992. A National Academy of Sciences Report. (Contributing author)
"Multicultural Education: Historical Development, Dimensions, and Practice." In L. Darling-Hammond (Ed.) (1993). Review of Research in Education (vol. 19, 3-49). Washington, D.C.: American Educational Research Association.
"Multicultural Education for Young Children: Racial and Ethnic Attitudes and their Modification." In B. Spodek (Ed.) (1993). Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children (pp. 236-250). New York: Macmillan.
"Measures of Attitudes Toward School, Physical Self, Blacks, Whites, and Neighborhood." In R. L. Jones (Ed.) (1996). Handbook of Tests and Measurements for Black Populations. (Vol. 1, pp. 249-259). Hampton, VA: Cobb & Henry.
"Measures of Assimilation, Pluralism, and Marginality." In R. L. Jones (Ed.) (1996). Handbook of Tests and Measurements for Black Populations. (Vol. 2, pp. 269-282). Hampton, VA: Cobb & Henry.
D. August & K. Hakua (Eds.) (1997). Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children: A Research Agenda. Washington, D. C.: National Academy Press. A National Academy of Sciences Report (Contributing author).
“The Social Construction of Difference and the Quest for Educational Equality.” In R. S. Brandt (Ed.) (2000). Education in the New Century (pp. 21-45). Arlington, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD 2000 Yearbook).
“Multicultural Education,” in N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Editors-in-Chief) (2001). International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Oxford: Pergamon.
"Researching race, culture and difference: Epistemological challenges and possibilities." In J. L. Green, G. Camilli, & P. B. Elmore (Eds.) (2006). Handbook of Complementary Methods in Education Research (2nd ed., pp. 773-793). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
(with Diem Nguyen). “Diversity and citizenship education: Historical, theoretical, and philosophical issues.” In L.S. Levstik & C. A.Tyson (Eds.) (2008). Handbook of research in social studies (pp. 137-151). New York, NY: Routledge.
Diversity, transformative citizenship education, and school reform. In M. Minow, R. A. Shweder, & H. Markus (Eds.) (2008). Just schools: Pursuing equality in societies of difference (pp. 227-253). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
“Diversity and citizenship education in global times.” In J. Arthur, I. Davies, & C. Hahn (Eds.) (2008). Sage handbook of education for citizenship and democracy. (pp. 57-70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications (57-70).
(With Caryn Park).(2010). “Race, ethnicity and education: The search for explanations.” In P. H. Collins & J. Solomos ( Eds.) (2010), Handbook of race and ethnic relations (pp. 383-414). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
“Citizenship education and global migration.” (2012). In J. A. Banks (Ed.), Encyclopedia of diversity in education (vol. 1, pp. 361-366). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
“Citizenship education and migration.” (2013). In I. Ness (Ed.) (2013). The encyclopedia of global migration (5 vols.). Norton, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
“Multicultural education.” In J. D. Wright (Editor-in-chief) (2015). International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (2nd ed,, vol.16, pp. 18-21). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
“Civic education for non-citizen and citizen students: A conceptual framework” (2019). In M. M. Suárez-Orozco (Ed.) (2019). Humanitarianism and mass migration: Confronting the world crisis (pp. 232-251). Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
“Creating a democratic school in a diverse community. “In M. Levinson and J. Fry (Eds.), Democratic discord in schools: Cases and commentaries in educational ethics (pp. 39-43). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
“Education, Citizenship, and International Migration.” In Christine Inglis, Wei Li, & Binod Khadria (Eds.) (2020). The Sage Handbook of International Migration (pp. 70-87). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.
- Selected journal articles
(1968). A Profile of the Black American: Implications for teaching. College Composition and Communication, 19 (5), 288-296.
(1969). A content analysis of the Black American in textbooks. Social Education, 33 (8), 954-957, 963.
(1971). Teaching Black history with a focus on decision making. Social Education, 35 (7), 740-745, 820-821.
(1973). Curriculum strategies for Black liberation. School Review, 81 (3), 405-414.
(1973). Teaching for ethnic literacy: A comparative approach. Social Education, 37 (8), 738-750.
(1976). The emerging stages of ethnicity: Implications for staff development. Educational Leadership, 34, 190-193.
(1978). Multiethnic education across cultures: United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, and Great Britain. Social Education, 42, 177-185.
(1983). Cultural democracy, citizenship education, and the American dream. Social Education, 47, 178-179, ff 222-232. (National Council for the Social Studies Presidential Address.)
(1984). Black youths in predominantly White suburbs: An exploratory study of their attitudes and self-concepts. The Journal of Negro Education, 53 (1), 3-17.
(1984). Multicultural education and its critics: Britain and the United States. The New Era, 65(3), 58-64 (Published in the United Kingdom).
(1985). Ethnic revitalization movements and education. Educational Review, 37(2), 131-139 (Published in the United Kingdom).
(1987). The social studies, ethnic diversity, and social change. The Elementary School Journal, 87 (5), 531-543.
(1992). African American scholarship and the evolution of multicultural education. The Journal of Negro Education, 61(3), 273-296.
(1993). The canon debate, knowledge construction, and multicultural education. Educational Researcher, 22 (5) 4-14.
(1995). The transformative challenges to the social science disciplines: Implications for social studies teaching and learning. Theory and Research in Social Education, 23 (1), 2-20.
(1995). The historical reconstruction of knowledge about race: Implications for transformative teaching. Educational Researcher, 24 (2), 15-25.
(1995). Multicultural education and curriculum transformation. The Journal of Negro Education, 64(4), 390-400.
(1998). The lives and values of researchers: Implications for educating citizens in a multicultural society. Educational Researcher, 27(7), 4-17 (American Educational Research Association Presidential Address).
(2002). Race, knowledge construction, and education in the USA: Lessons from history. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 5 (1), 7-27.
(2004). Remembering Brown: Silence, loss, rage and hope. Multicultural Perspectives, 6(4), 6-8.
(2008). Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age. Educational Researcher, 37, (3), 129-139.
(2009). Diversity and citizenship education in multicultural nations. Multicultural Education Review, 1 (1), 1-28.
(2012). Ethnic studies, citizenship education, and the public good. Intercultural Education, 23(6), 467-473.
(2016). Expanding the epistemological terrain: Increasing equity and diversity within the American Educational Research Association. Educational Researcher, 45 (2), 149-158.
(2017). Failed citizenship and transformative civic education. Educational Researcher, 46 (7), 366-377.
- Downloadable articles
(1993). The canon debate, knowledge construction, and multicultural education. Educational Researcher, 22 (5) 4-14.
(1998). The lives and values of researchers: Implications for educating citizens in a multicultural society.” Educational Researcher, 27 (7), 4-17.
(2008). Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age. Educational Researcher, 37, (3), 129-139.
(2015). Failed citizenship, civic engagement, and education. Kappa Delta Pi, 51 (4), 151-154.
(2016). Expanding the epistemological terrain: Increasing equity and diversity within the American Educational Research Association. Educational Researcher, 45(2), 149–158. doi: 10.3102/0013189X16639017.
(2017). Failed citizenship and transformative civic education. Educational Researcher, 20 (10), 1-12.
(2020). Published review of Diversity, Transformative Knowledge, and Civic Education: Selected Essays. Schools: Studies in Education, Issue 2, Fall, 332-339.
- Lectures, interviews and other media
James A. Banks Global Citizenship Interview Series with Emiliano Bosio
James A. Banks Papers, 1966-2019
Banks Introduction from the CME's 29th Symposium
James A. Banks Books from Amazon.com
Inside the Academy Video Archive and Interview
The 29th Annual Faculty Lecture at the University of Washington
Interview at Western Illinois Univeristy
Founder of Multicultural Education
Family of Fellows: Patricia Banks and James Banks (Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University)
Professor investigates citizenship-education dilemma in new book of essays
- Multicultural Education Series
The Multicultural Education Series is published by Teachers College Press, Columbia University. Series Editor of the series is James A. Banks.
Last courses taught
- EDC&I 474 Multi-Ethnic Studies: Methods, Content, and Materials (3)
This course was designed to help preservice and in-service teachers identify content and materials and devise methods for implementing ethnic studies programs and for incorporating ethnic content into the regular K-12 social studies, language arts, and humanities curricula. Special attention was given to teaching about American Indians, Mexican Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, and White ethnic groups. The main text in this course was James A. Banks (2009). Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies (8th edition). Boston and New York: Pearson.
- EDC&I 505 Multicultural Education Across Nations: Policy and Curriculum Issues (3)
This course was designed to acquaint graduate students and educational practitioners with the research, concepts, theories, and practices in multicultural education in nations around the world. An emphasis was placed on how different nations educate students for citizenship and balance unity and diversity. The course was organized around key concepts and used case studies from various nations in different parts of the world to exemplify and illustrate the concepts. Case studies were drawn from different nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, South Africa, Japan, China, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico.
- EDC&I 569 Educating Ethnic Minority Youths (4)
This course consisted of an intensive analysis and review of the research and curricular programs related to the social, psychological, and political factors that influence the school experiences of ethnic minority youths. Special attention was given to instructional and curricular programs for African American, American Indian, Mexican American, Puerto Rican American, and Asian American students. Prerequisite: graduate standing or permission of instructor.
- EDC&I 574: Race, Gender, and Knowledge Construction: Curriculum Considerations (3)
Using historical and contemporary perspectives, this course considered ways in which knowledge related to race and gender is constructed and the implications of the ways in which knowledge is constructed for curriculum reform and teaching. Prerequisite: one course in ethnic studies, multicultural education, or women studies or permission of instructor.