Synopses & Reviews
Cultural Anthropology: A Global Perspective provides students with an introduction to cultural anthropology through a traditional holistic and integrative approach. Organized by societal type, this book's primary emphasis is on applied anthropology, with a strong coverage of globalization.
About the Author
Raymond Scupin is Professor of Anthropology and International Studies in Lindenwood University. He received his B.A. degree in history and Asian studies, with a minor in anthropology, from the University of California- Angeles. He completed his M.A. and Ph. D degrees in anthropology at the University of California-Santa Barbara. Dr.Scupin is truly a four-field anthropologist. During graduate school, Dr. Scupin did archaeological and ethnohistorical research on Native Americans in the Santa Barbara region. He did extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Thailand with a focus on understanding the ethnic and religious movements among the Muslin minority. In addition, he taught linguistics and conducted linguistic research while based at a Thai University.
Dr.Scupin has been teaching undergraduate courses in anthropology for more than 30 years at a variety of academic institutions, including community colleges, research universities, and a four-year liberal arts university. Thus, he has taught a very broad spectrum of undergraduate students. Through his teaching experience, Dr.Scupin was prompted to write this textbook, which would allow a wide range of undergraduate students to understand the holistic and global perspectives of the four-field approach in anthropology. In 1999, Dr.Scupin received the Missouri Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
Dr.Scupin has published many studies on his ethnographic research in Thailand. He recently returned to Thailand and other countries of Southeast Asia to update his ethnographic data on Islamic trends in that area, an increasingly important topic in the post 9/11 world. He is a member of many professional associations, including the American Anthropological Association, the Asian Studies Association, and the Council of Thai Studies. Dr, Scupin has recently authored Religion and culture: An Anthropological Focus and Race and Ethnicity: An Anthropological Focus on the U.S. and the World, and Peoples and Cultures of Asia, all published by Prentice Hall Press.
Table of Contents
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Part I: Basic Concepts in Anthropology
Chapter 1: Introduction to Anthropology
Chapter 2: Human Evolution
Chapter 3: Culture
Chapter 4: The Process of Enculturation
Chapter 5: Language
Chapter 6: Anthropological Explanations
Part II: Studying Differant Societies
Chapter 7: Analyzing Culture and Society
Chapter 8: Band Societies
Chapter 9: Tribes
Chapter 10: Chiefdoms
Chapter 11: Agricultural States
Chapter 12: Industrial States
Part III: Globalization and Its Impact
Chapter 13: Globalization and Culture, and Indigenous Societies
Chapter 14: Globalization in Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean
Chapter 15: Globalization in the Middle East and Asia
Chapter 16: Race and Ethnicity
Chapter 17: Contemporary Global Trends
Chapter 18: Applied Anthropology\n
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