Culture Sketches: Case Studies in Anthropology

Ideal for any cultural anthropology course, this brief collection of ethnographic case studies exposes students to 15 different cultures. The groups selected are peoples whose traditional cultures are uniquely their own. Each has distinctive patterns and practices; each has faced the challenge of an encroaching world, with differing results. Moreover, they often provide the prime illustrations of important concepts in introductory anthropology course including Azande witchcraft, Ju/’hoansi egalitarianism, Trobriand kula exchange, and Minangkabau matriliny. As such, this volume can stand alone as an introduction to central ethnographic concepts through these 15 societies, or serve as a valuable companion to anthropology texts. Many of the peoples presented are involved in the diaspora; some struggle to preserve old ways in new places. All sketches follow a logical, consistent organization that makes it easy for students to understand major themes such as history, subsistence, sociopolitical organization, belief systems, marriage, kinship, and contemporary issues.

• Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition
• Winds of Ixtepeji: World View and Society in a Zapotec Town
• Human Culture: Highlights of Cultural Anthropology (3rd Edition)
• Getting Ghost: Two Young Lives and the Struggle for the Soul of an American City
• Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition
• Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge
• Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity
• THE HURON Farmers of the North, Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology
• Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective
• Loose Leaf for Anthropology: Appreciating Human Diversity