The Essence of Anthropology [Paperback]

William A. Haviland (Author), Harald E. L. Prins (Author), Dana Walrath (Author), Bunny McBride (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0495599816 | ISBN-13: 978-0495599814 | Publication Date: February 24, 2009 | Edition: 2

THE ESSENCE OF ANTHROPOLOGY presents anthropology from an integrated, holistic perspective using three unifying themes as a framework: culture as a systemic adaptation to various internal and external factors, including the environment, biocultural connections between human culture and biology that shape the varied ways humans meet the challenges of survival, and the disparate impact of globalization on peoples and cultures around the world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. William A. Haviland is Professor Emeritus at the University of Vermont, where he founded the Department of Anthropology and taught for thirty-two years. He holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. He has carried out original research in archaeology in Guatemala and Vermont; ethnography in Maine and Vermont; and physical anthropology in Guatemala. This work has been the basis of numerous publications in various national and international books and journals, as well as in media intended for the general public. His books include The Original Vermonters, co-authored with Marjorie Power, and a technical monograph on ancient Maya settlement. He also served as consultant for the award-winning telecourse, Faces of Culture, and is co-editor of the series Tikal Reports, published by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Besides his teaching and writing, Dr. Haviland has lectured to numerous professional as well as non-professional audiences in Canada, Mexico, Lesotho, South Africa, and Spain, as well as in the United States. A staunch supporter of indigenous rights, he served as expert witness for the Missisquoi Abenakis of Vermont in an important court case over aboriginal fishing rights. Awards received by Dr. Haviland include being named University Scholar by the Graduate School of the University of Vermont in 1990; a Certificate of Appreciation from the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, St. Francis/Sokoki Band in 1996; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for Research on Vermont in 2006. Now retired from teaching, he continues his research, writing, and lecturing from the coast of Maine. His most recent book is At the Place of the Lobsters and Crabs (20090.

Dr. Harald E.L. Prins is a University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University. Born in the Netherlands, he studied at universities in Europe and the United States. He has done extensive fieldwork among indigenous peoples in South and North America, published many dozens of articles in seven languages, authored The Mi?kmaq: Resistance, Accommodation, and Cultural Survival (1996), co-authored Indians in Eden (2009), and co-edited American Beginnings (1994) and other books. Also trained in film, he has made award-winning documentaries and served as president of the Society for Visual Anthropology and visual anthropology editor of the American Anthropologist. Dr. Prins has won his university?s most prestigious undergraduate teaching awards, held the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars (2004?2005), and was selected as Professor of the Year for the State of Kansas by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2008. Active in human rights, he served as expert witness in Native rights cases in the U.S. Senate and various Canadian courts, and was instrumental in the successful federal recognition and land claims of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs (1991). Dr. Prins was appointed Research Associate at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (2008?2011), and served as guest professor at Lund University in Sweden (2010).

Dr. Dana Walrath is Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Vermont and a Women?s Studies-affiliated faculty member. She earned her PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and is a medical and biological anthropologist with principal interests in biocultural aspects of reproduction, the cultural context founded and directed an innovative educational program at the University of Vermont?s College of Medicine that brings anthropological theory and practice to first-year medical students. Before joining the faculty at the University of Vermont in 2000, she taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Templeton Foundation. Dr. Walrath?s publications have appeared in Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, and American Journal of Physical Anthropology. An active member of the Council on the Anthropology of Reproduction, she has also served on a national committee to develop women?s health-care learning objectives for medical education and works locally to improve health care for refugees and immigrants.

Bunny McBride, who holds a Master?s Degree from Columbia University, is an award-winning author specializing in cultural anthropology, indigenous peoples, international tourism, and nature conservation issues. Published in dozens of national and international print media, she has reported from Africa, Europe, China, and the Indian Ocean. Highly rated as a teacher, she served as visiting anthropology faculty at Principia College, the Salt Institute for Documentary Field Studies, and since 1996 as adjunct lecturer of anthropology at Kansas State University. McBride?s many publications include Women of the Dawn (1999), Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in Paris (1995), and Indians in Eden: Wabanakis and Rusticators on Maine?s Mount Desert Island, 1850s?1920s (co-authored, 2009). The Maine State legislature awarded her a special commendation for significant contributions to Native women?s history (1999). A community activist and researcher for the Aroostook Band of Micmacs (1981?1991), McBride assisted this Maine Indian community in its successful efforts to reclaim lands, gain tribal status, and revitalize cultural traditions. She has curated various museum exhibits based on her research, most recently Journeys West: The David & Peggy Rockefeller American Indian Art Collection for the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine. Currently she is working on a new book co-authored with Harald Prins (From Indian Island to Omaha Beach: The Story of Charles Shay, Penobscot Indian War Hero, 2010) and a series of museum exhibitions based on a two-volume study co-authored with Harald Prins for the National Park Service (Asticou?s Island Domain, 2007). McBride also serves as oral history advisor for the Kansas Humanities Council and as board member and vice president of the Women?s World Summit Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 379 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 2 edition (February 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0495599816
• ISBN-13: 978-0495599814
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INTERESTING!!, October 21, 2009

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A. Campeau - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Essence of Anthropology (Paperback)

I really love this book and the class I need it for! I haven't been bored reading it yet, and I usually fall asleep when reading textbooks... lol

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Same ol guilty liberal garbage., March 6, 2011

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A. SANCHEZ (Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Essence of Anthropology (Paperback)

I was required to read this book for a class in anthropology. And I'm glad I did, because anthropology is certainly interesting. However, this book is very dry and boring, and I constantly had to re-focus my attention to reading. My main gripe about this book is that the authors claim to have an unbiased, holistic approach to anthropology but they just cannot seem to get past their own biases. For instance, they equate ancient cannibalism to the modern practice of capital punishment! And, they blame cannibalism in New Guinea, not on the aborigines who did the man-eating, but on European settlers. They also blame white European settlers for the "shift" in native American Indians from a peaceful people to a warrior people. However, anyone who knows history knows that most native American Indians brutally killed others from different tribes for centuries. The authors side with lesser known cultures, stressing how great their lives are compared to Western cultures. Now there may be some truth to that in the idea that fewer pressures exist upon poorer lesser peoples, but they fail to mention how so many of these people (like food-foragers) die younger then people in more developed cultures and typically are less healthy; which means, these lesser (I don't mean inferior) cultures depend on Western societies for their health conditions. There are so many silly liberal assumptions in this book. I would say that if you are serious about an interesting subject as anthropology is, don't waste your time and money on this book. I know there are plenty of liberals in this field with biased views who can actually contain themselves and write a decent book without all the same ol guilty liberal garbage that is saturated in this one.
I don't hate this book for the fact that it is an introduction to anthropology and you will learn something new if you don't know much about the field as I did not, just not acceptable if you want to take anthropology seriously.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, January 4, 2011

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Alveda - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Essence of Anthropology (Paperback)

Condition was good as describe. Pages was clean. However,there were Black pen scribbles cross-outs on the back and front covers. I had to clean them/rub them off. Will not buy from this seller again.