Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition - Softcover

Schultz, Emily A.; Lavenda, Robert H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195338502 ISBN 13: 9780195338508

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 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

About the Author:

Emily A. Schultz is a Professor of Anthropology at St. Cloud State University. Robert H. Lavenda is a Professor of Anthropology and Co-Chair of the Department at St. Cloud University.

Review:

"This edition of Cultural Anthropology is more accessible (in terms of language used, examples, and discussion of theory) than earlier editions. I believe that this book is superior to other introductory texts, which is why I have used it for so many years in my introductory courses."

--Teresa Holmes, York University

"One of the key strengths of this text is the thorough grounding of major theoretical concepts employed within anthropology in their historical and evolutionary context and a willingness to explore the implications that this has for how we 'do anthropology' in a seemingly increasingly chaotic
world."

--Jane Granskog, California State University, Bakersfield

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0195338502
• ISBN 13: 9780195338508
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512