Explorations in Cultural Anthropology A Reader

by Boyd, Colleen E.; Lassiter, Luke Eric

• ISBN13: 9780759109537
• ISBN10: 0759109532
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-06-10
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

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 provides students with a variety of ethnographic and other anthropological materials so they do not have to buy an array of titles.

Author Biography

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 coeditor of The Other Side of Middletown, among other works.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Culture
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 1
Body Ritual among the Nacirema	p. 5
Crack in Spanish Harlem: Culture and Economy in the Inner City	p. 11
Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights	p. 25
Fieldwork and Ethnography
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 37
Eating Christmas in the Kalahari	p. 41
Reflections of a Shy Ethnographer: Foot-in-the-Mouth Is Not Fatal	p. 49
Doing Collaborative Ethnography	p. 57
Getting a Living	p. 65
Language, Communication, and Expressive Culture
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 83
The Circle	p. 89
Fighting for Our Lives	p. 105
Body Art as Visual Language	p. 125
Socioeconomic and Political Systems in a Changing World
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 135
One Hundred Percent American	p. 141
The Silk Road: The Making of a Global Cultural Economy	p. 145
The Globalization of a Brazilian Fishing Community	p. 159
A Tribal Chair's Perspective on Inherent Sovereignty	p. 167
Race and Ethnicity
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 175
Scientific and Folk Ideas about Heredity	p. 179
Melungeons and the Politics of Heritage	p. 191
Inventing Hispanics: A Diverse Minority Resists Being Labeled	p. 211
Gender and Sexuality
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 217
Different Words, Different Worlds	p. 223
"Ladies" Behind Bars: A Liminal Gender as Cultural Mirror	p. 243
The Sworn Virgins of Albania	p. 251
Hijra and Sadhin: Neither Man nor Woman in India	p. 259
Marriage, Family, and Kinship
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 275
Child-Rearing [in Middletown USA, circa 1929]	p. 281
Gay Marriage and Anthropology	p. 301
When Brothers Share a Wife	p. 305
Caveat Emptor?	p. 313
Belief Systems
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 319
The Sacred Pipe in Modern Life	p. 325
Oh, Gods!	p. 331
Folklore and Medicine	p. 349
Applied and Future Anthropologies
Introduction and Discussion Questions	p. 363
Reflections on Collaboration, Ethnographic and Applied	p. 367
Studying College Students: Applying Anthropology to Teaching Anthropology	p. 379
Virtual Worlds and Futures of Anthropology	p. 387
Index	p. 395
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