What is the role of culture in human experience? This concise yet solid introduction to cultural anthropology helps readers explore and understand this crucial issue from a Christian perspective. Now revised and updated throughout, this new edition of a successful textbook covers standard cultural anthropology topics with special attention given to cultural relativism, evolution, and missions. It also includes a new chapter on medical anthropology. Plentiful figures, photos, and sidebars are sprinkled throughout the text, and updated ancillary support materials and teaching aids are available through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources.

Designed as a reader for courses, this anthology presents an array of theories and interpretations in the field of modern cultural anthropology. It provides a deeper understanding of the major theoretical orientations which have historically guided and currently guide anthropological research.

Exploring the origins, doctrines and conceptions of the self.

Social anthropology is, in the classic definition, dedicated to the study of distant civilizations in their traditional and contemporary forms. But there is a larger aspiration: the comparative study of all human societies in the light of those challengingly unfamiliar beliefs and customs that expose our own ethnocentric limitations and put us in our place within the wider gamut of the world's civilizations. Thematically guided by social setting and cultural expression of identity, Social and Cultural Anthropology in Perspective is a dynamic and highly acclaimed introduction to the field of social anthropology, which also examines its links with cultural anthropology. A challenging new introduction critically surveys the latest trends, pointing to weaknesses as well as strengths.Presented in a clear, lively, and entertaining fashion, this volume offers a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to social anthropology for use by teachers and students. Skillfully weaving together theory and ethnographic data, author Ioan M. Lewis advocates an eclectic approach to anthropology. He combines the strengths of British structural-functionalism with the leading ideas of Marx, Freud, and Levi-Strauss while utilizing the methods of historians, political scientists, and psychologists. One of Lewis' particular concerns is to reveal how insights from ""traditional"" cultures illuminate what we take for granted in contemporary industrial and post-industrial society. He also shows how, in the pluralist world in which we live, those who study ""other"" cultures ultimately learn about themselves. Social anthropology is thus shown to be as relevant today as it has been in the past.

Social anthropology is, in the classic definition, dedicated to the study ofdistant civilizations in their traditional and contemporary forms. But thereis a larger aspiration: the comparative study of all human societies in thelight of those challengingly unfamiliar beliefs and customs that expose ourown ethnocentric limitations and put us in our place within the wider gamutof the world's civilizations. Thematically guided by social setting and culturalexpression of identity, Social and Cultural Anthropology in Perspective is adynamic and highly acclaimed introduction to the field of social anthropology, which also examines its links with cultural anthropology. A challengingnew introduction critically surveys the latest trends, pointing to weaknessesas well as strengths.

Examining theory and practice, Advertising and Anthropology is a lively and important contribution to the study of organizational culture, consumption practices, marketing to consumers and the production of creativity in corporate settings. The chapters reflect the authors' extensive lived experienced as professionals in the advertising business and marketing research industry. Essays analyze internal agency and client meetings, competitive pressures and professional relationships and include multiple case studies. The authors describe the structure, function and process of advertising agency work, the mediation and formation of creativity, the centrality of human interactions in agency work, the production of consumer insights and industry ethics. Throughout the book, the authors offer concrete advice for practitioners.Advertising and Anthropology is written by anthropologists for anthropologists as well as students and scholars interested in advertising and related industries such as marketing, marketing research and design.

Anthropology is usually associated with the study of society, but the anthropologist must also understand people as individuals. This highly original study demonstrates how methods of social analysis can be applied to the individual, while remaining entirely distinct from psychology and other perspectives on the person. Contributors draw on approaches from material culture to create fascinating portraits of individuals, offering analytical insights that convey ethnographic encounters with often extraordinary people from Turkey, Spain and Britain to Albania, Cuba, Jamaica, Mali, Serbia and Trinidad. Exploring relationships to places and spaces such as social networking sites, to persons such as parents, to ethical concerns such as fairness and to concepts such as the ideology of struggle, Anthropology and the Individual shows how the study of the individual can provide insights into society without losing a sense of the particularity of the person.

This volume on cultural anthropology presents a Christian perspective for Bible school students of conservative evangelical backgrounds. The hope is that a sympathetic approach to the problems of cultural diversity throughout the world will help young people overcome typical North American cultural biases and bring understanding and appreciation for the diversities of behavior and thought that exist in a culturally heterogeneous world. Grunlan and Mayers take the position of "functional creationism"; and though they discuss some of the problems implied in traditional interpretations of the age of the world and especially of the creation of the human race, they do not attempt to deal with either physical anthropology or the origins of man. They do, however, attempt to deal meaningfully with the problems posed by biblical absolutism and cultural relativism, and their practice. Concluding chapters with a series of thought-provoking questions should prove to be of real help to both the professional and nonprofessional teacher of anthropology.

In addition to a comprehensive overview of the discipline, CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: AN APPLIED PERSPECTIVE, goes beyond basic introductory material by applying the theory, insights, and methods of cultural anthropology to contemporary situations that students both majors and non-majors are likely to encounter in their professional and personal lives. In the Eighth Edition, new co-author Susan Andreatta adds her expertise in economic and medical anthropology to that of Gary Ferraro, who has worked extensively in the anthropology of business, education, and organizational structures. Through the book’s lucid narrative and wealth of modern examples, students come to understand how to view the world in which they find themselves today. New applied case studies opening each chapter are designed to catch the attention of students and remind them that the study of anthropology really is relevant to our lives. These introductory case studies, the popular Cross-Cultural Miscues presenting real-life examples, and Applied Perspectives features are now designated with a SWAP icon (Share with a Parent or friend) to encourage students to recognize the importance and necessity of understanding culture what it is and how it changes as individuals living in today’s world. The Contemporary Issues features and in-text examples also emphasize the relevance of anthropology to students’ lives and include new topics, including how South Korean society has rethought the value of having female children and whether or not professional anthropologists should work for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, to help students better understand and participate in the globalized world around them. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.