Explorations in Cultural Anthropology: A Reader

Explorations in Cultural Anthropology is a collection of readings chosen to demonstrate the varied and valuable applications of the anthropological perspective to real-world problems on local, regional, and global scales. It introduces undergraduates to the exciting, perplexing, and troubling issues that socio-cultural anthropologists confront in their work in academia and beyond. Students now have a one-stop source for a variety of key ethnographic and cultural materials without having to buy or search for numerous texts. Explorations in Cultural Anthropology offers 31 classic readings and contemporary anthropological essays as well as pieces written by journalists, scholars from other disciplines, cultural consultants, and community leaders. The selections are meant to thoughtfully challenge students and provoke further discussion within introductory-level classrooms. The book is organized into nine parts that reflect significant themes and current trends in cultural anthropology: Culture; Fieldwork and Ethnography; Language, Communication, and Expressive Culture; Socio-economic and Political Systems in a Changing World; Race and Ethnicity; Gender and Sexuality; Marriage, Family, and Kinship; Belief Systems; and Applied and Future Anthropologies. Each part introduces the articles therein and provides probing questions per article for student response. This outstanding collection perfectly complements Luke Eric Lassiter's Invitation to Anthropology textbook but has wide appeal for all introductory cultural anthropology courses.

Table of Contents:
Preface Part I: Culture Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 1: Horace Miner, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" Selection 2: Philip Bourgois, "Crack in Spanish Harlem: Culture and Economy in the Inner City" Selection 3: Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, "Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights" Part II: Fieldwork and Ethnography Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 4: Richard Lee, "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari" Selection 5: Juliana Flinn, "Reflections of a Shy Ethnographer: Foot-in-the-Mouth Is Not Fatal" Selection 6: Luke Eric Lassiter, "Doing Collaborative Ethnography" Selection 7: Michelle Anderson, Anne Kraemer, and Ashley Moore, "Getting a Living" Part III: Language, Communication, and Expressive Culture Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 8: Michael Agar, "The Circle" Selection 9: Deborah Tannen, "Fighting for Our Lives" Selection 10: Enid Schildkrout, "Body Art as Visual Language" Part IV: Socio-Economic and Political Systems in a Changing World Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 11: Ralph Linton, "One Hundred Per Cent American" Selection 12: Richard Kurin, "The Silk Road: The Making of a Global Cultural Economy" Selection 13: Conrad Kottak, "The Globalization of a Brazilian Fishing Community" Selection 14: Billy Evans Horse and Luke Eric Lassiter, "A Tribal Chair's Perspective on Inherent Sovereignty" Part V: Race and Ethnicity Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 15: Jonathan M. Marks, "Scientific and Folk Ideas about Heredity" Selection 16: Melissa Schrift, "Melungeons and the Politics of Heritage" Selection 17: Amitai Etzioni, "Inventing Hispanics: A Diverse Minority Resists Being Labeled" Part VI: Gender and Sexuality Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 18: Deborah Tannen, "Different Words, Different Worlds" Selection 19: John M. Coggeshall, "'Ladies Behind Bars': A Liminal Gender as Cultural Mirror" Selection 20: Antonia Young, "The Sworn Virgins of Albania" Selection 21: Serena Nanda, "Hijra and Sadhin: Neither Man nor Woman in India" Part VII: Marriage, Family, and Kinship Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 22: Robert and Helen Lynd, "Child-Rearing" Selection 23: Linda Stone, "Gay Marriage and Anthropology" Selection 24: Melvyn C. Goldstein, "When Brothers Share a Wife" Selection 25: Jonathan Marks, "Caveat Emptor?" Part VIII: Belief Systems Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 26: Arval Looking Horse, "The Sacred Pipe in Modern Life" Selection 27: Toby Lester, "Oh, Gods!" Selection 28: David Hufford, "Folklore and Medicine" Part IX: Applied and Future Anthropologies Introduction and Discussion Questions Selection 29: James L. Peacock, "Reflections on Collaboration, Ethnographic and Applied" Selection 30: Cathy Small, "Studying College Students: Applying Anthropology to Teaching Anthropology" Selection 31: Tom Boellstorff, "Virtual Worlds and Futures of Anthropology"

About the Author :
Colleen E. Boyd is associate professor of anthropology at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Luke Eric Lassiter is director of the Graduate Humanities Program and professor of Humanities and Anthropology at Marshall University Graduate College, South Charleston, West Virginia. He is the author of Invitation to Anthropology and co-editor of The Other Side of Middletown, among other works.