Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition - Softcover

Schultz, Emily A.; Lavenda, Robert H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195338502 ISBN 13: 9780195338508

Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr, 2008

Synopsis

Now more accessible and student-friendly in this full-color seventh edition, Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition explores how cultural creativity, human agency, and the material conditions of everyday life interact together to shape human cultural practices. It stresses contemporary applications and human narratives across cultures, focusing on how people bring meaning to the world and transform it through practical action. Offering solid coverage of traditional topics, the authors incorporate cutting-edge theory and explain complex ideas in accessible language. They pay special attention to issues of power and inequality in the contemporary world, including gender inequalities, racism, ethnic discrimination, nationalism, caste, and class.
Covering the material in fifteen concise chapters, Cultural Anthropology is ideal for introductory courses. It exposes students to alternative perspectives from non-anthropologists and indigenous peoples through "In Their Own Words" commentaries, and it provides ethnographic summaries of each society discussed at length in the text in "EthnoProfile" boxes. The text also features many pedagogical aids including key terms, a running glossary, chapter summaries, maps, and annotated suggestions for further reading. An Instructor's Manual and Computerized Test Bank and a Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/culturalanthro provide additional helpful resources, including a student guide with extensive study skill tips and chapter review tests.

About this title

Review

"Compared to other texts, Cultural Anthropology, 6/e, provides much more current examples of issues and concerns in anthropology, does a better job of integrating North American examples into the discussion, and is up-to-date on contemporary theoretical perspectives....I think that it is important to challenge students to think critically (from an informed theoretical perspective) and this text really does allow me to encourage this kind of thinking."--Teresa Holmes, York University"A highly readable and accessible presentation. The text meets my needs as far as encouraging thinking beyond memorize-and-regurgitate, while it fulfills students' desires to 'tell me what I need to know for the test.'...[It] surpassed all expectations as to what one could achieve in an introductory book."--Nora Haenn, Arizona State University"For professors of religion, anthropology, or global studies, this well-researched work will provide a readable, vast amount of well-organized material. The pedagogical aids (CD, questions, etc.) are well done."--Steve Madigan, College of St. Catherine, MN "Compared to other texts, Cultural Anthropology, 6/e, provides much more current examples of issues and concerns in anthropology, does a better job of integrating North American examples into the discussion, and is up-to-date on contemporary theoretical perspectives....I think that it is important to challenge students to think critically (from an informed theoretical perspective) and this text really does allow me to encourage this kind of thinking."--Teresa Holmes, York University "A highly readable and accessible presentation. The text meets my needs as far as encouraging thinking beyond memorize-and-regurgitate, while it fulfills students' desires to 'tell me what I need to know for the test.'...[It] surpassed all expectations as to what one could achieve in an introductory book."--Nora Haenn, Arizona State University "For professors of religion, anthropology, or global studies, this well-researched work will provide a readable, vast amount of well-organized material. The pedagogical aids (CD, questions, etc.) are well done."--Steve Madigan, College of St. Catherine, MN "Compared to other texts, Cultural Anthropology, 6/e, provides much more current examples of issues and concerns in anthropology, does a better job of integrating North American examples into the discussion, and is up-to-date on contemporary theoretical perspectives....I think that it is important to challenge students to think critically (from an informed theoretical perspective) and this text really does allow me to encourage this kind of thinking."--Teresa Holmes, York University "A highly readable and accessible presentation. The text meets my needs as far as encouraging thinking beyond memorize-and-regurgitate, while it fulfills students' desires to 'tell me what I need to know for the test.'...[It] surpassed all expectations as to what one could achieve in an introductory book."--Nora Haenn, Arizona State University "For professors of religion, anthropology, or global studies, this well-researched work will provide a readable, vast amount of well-organized material. The pedagogical aids (CD, questions, etc.) are well done."--Steve Madigan, College of St. Catherine, MN "Compared to other texts, Cultural Anthropology, 6/e, provides much more current examples of issues and concerns in anthropology, does a better job of integrating North American examples into the discussion, and is up-to-date on contemporary theoretical perspectives....I think that it is importantto challenge students to think critically (from an informed theoretical perspective) and this text really does allow me to encourage this kind of thinking."--Teresa Holmes, York University"A highly readable and accessible presentation. The text meets my needs as far as encouraging thinking beyond memorize-and-regurgitate, while it fulfills students' desires to 'tell me what I need to know for the test.'...[It] surpassed all expectations as to what one could achieve in an introductorybook."--Nora Haenn, Arizona State University"For professors of religion, anthropology, or global studies, this well-researched work will provide a readable, vast amount of well-organized material. The pedagogical aids (CD, questions, etc.) are well done."--Steve Madigan, College of St. Catherine, MN

From the Publisher

A truly balanced treatment of the major subfields of anthropology, this text provides more extensive coverage of physical anthropology and archaeology than any other introductory text. Reviewers found the chapter on primates unusually complete, with coverage of traditional and cladistic taxonomy, in addition to standard descriptions about each major primate category. Also included are important issues in primatology: sociobiology, socioecology, aggression affiliation, intelligence studies, and language. Archaeology is treated in three chapters and includes feminist archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, and postprocessualism.
Material on gender and feminist anthropology is featured throughout the text rather than being relegated to a separate chapter. Considerations of gender are found in almost every chapter pertaining to cultural anthropology, including coverage of supernumerary sexes and genders (such as berdaches in Native North America, Chapter 18) and nonreproductive sexual practices (Chapter 19). Work by scholars such as Linda Fedigan and Barbara Smuts in primatology, and Margaret Conkey and Joan Gero in archaeology, provide important new insights into some key roles assumed by females.
The text takes a world-system approach. The text systematically points out the extent to which a people's current sociocultural situation has been shaped by their history of contact with the world system and their degree of incorporation within it. Students will see that cultures cannot be studied out of context, and will begin to acquire an appreciation of the interrelatedness of the society in which we live.
Many new voices, including those of indigenous peoples and researchers outside the field of anthropology, are incorporated in commentaries called "In Their Own Words." Anthropologists, journalists, and farmers, among others, offer observations on topics featured in the chapters. The variety of perspectives will challenge students to take a broader view of anthropological issues.
Chapter maps pinpoint the locations of peoples and places discussed in detail within the chapters. Students will be able to see at a glance where the sites and cultures covered in each chapter can be found on a global map.
EthnoProfiles provide concise ethnographic profiles of the peoples discussed at length in the text; each includes a detailed map of the group's location, which is incorporated into the chapter-opening global map. These brief summaries include data on location, population, environment, livelihood, and political organization. A source for further information gives students a starting point for more in-depth study.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195338502
• ISBN 13: 9780195338508
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 489