Anthropological literature has traditionally been static and synchronic, only occasionally according a role to historical processes. but recent years have seen a burgeoning exchange between anthropology and history, each field taking on a powerful new dimension in consequence. Just what this means for anthropologists has not been clear, and this collection (eight core papers plus introduction and final commentary) introduces focus and direction to this interface between anthropology challenges several basic assumptions long held by anthropologists. Researchers can no longer be satisfied with approaches epitomized in 'the ethnographic present'. Society may be a bounded entity, but culture cannot be treated as such; a culture should be examined as it has interacted with other cultures and with its environment over time. Many traditionalists in anthropology, faced with these disturbing new challenges, fear the disintegration of the discipline; but these thoughtful papers demonstrate, on the contrary, its vitality, growth, and promise. In this volume, major figures in symbolic/semiotic anthropology offer various approaches to examining culture through time - culture mediated by history and history mediated by culture - in its complexity and dynamics. The eight core papers focus on particular cultures in various locales: Hawaii, Nepal, Spain, Japan, Israel, India, and Indonesia. No artifical unity - theoretical, thematic, or epistemological - has been imposed. The strength of the volume derives from a complementary diversity and tension, as each player, drawing on a particular culture, offers an original way of penetrating that culture's historical dimensions.

Annotation World History: Cultures, States, and Societies to 1500 offers a comprehensive introduction to the history of humankind from prehistory to 1500. Authored by six USG faculty members with advance degrees in History, this textbook offers up-to-date original scholarship. It covers such cultures, states, and societies as Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Israel, Dynastic Egypt, India's Classical Age, the Dynasties of China, Archaic Greece, the Roman Empire, Islam, Medieval Africa, the Americas, and the Khanates of Central Asia. It includes 350 high-quality images and maps, chronologies, and learning questions to help guide student learning. Its digital nature allows students to follow links to applicable sources and videos, expanding their educational experience beyond the textbook. It provides a new and free alternative to traditional textbooks, making World History an invaluable resource in our modern age of technology and advancement.

Within its wide boundaries, culture creates written and visual reflection areas for itself. As the reflection area expands through time, space and nature, it becomes richer, and, in doing so, it needs to be appreciated. The cultural reflection of historical accumulation leaves us in front of an immense mirror. In general terms, this book presents the reader with the intertwined relationships between culture and literature, culture and language, and culture and history or art history. More specifically, it investigates the joy of a birth, a funeral ritual, the merriness of a melody, and the taste of a meal as they are reflected within the texts that Asia has accumulated throughout its history. Its central concern is the investigation of issues related to culture and how it is reflected in literature, language, or history in a particular place.

How our collective intelligence has helped us to evolve and prosper Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments. What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains—on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations. Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology. Our early capacities for learning from others produced many cultural innovations, such as fire, cooking, water containers, plant knowledge, and projectile weapons, which in turn drove the expansion of our brains and altered our physiology, anatomy, and psychology in crucial ways. Later on, some collective brains generated and recombined powerful concepts, such as the lever, wheel, screw, and writing, while also creating the institutions that continue to alter our motivations and perceptions. Henrich shows how our genetics and biology are inextricably interwoven with cultural evolution, and how culture-gene interactions launched our species on an extraordinary evolutionary trajectory. Tracking clues from our ancient past to the present, The Secret of Our Success explores how the evolution of both our cultural and social natures produce a collective intelligence that explains both our species' immense success and the origins of human uniqueness.

Three of today's foremost church historians have succeeded in producing an invaluable introdution to church history that focuses on the influence of the church on culture and the impact of society on the church. A unique study that affirms that church history is not exclusively European or American--but is truly a global story--with global significance.

Few conventions were left unchallenged in the 1970s as Americans witnessed a decade of sweeping social, cultural, economic, and political upheavals. The fresh anguish of the Vietnam War, the disillusionment of Watergate, the recession, and the oil embargo all contributed to an era of social movements, political mistrust, and not surprisingly, rich cultural diversity. It was the Me Decade, a reaction against 60s radicalism reflected in fashion, film, the arts, and music. Songs of the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and Patti Smith brought the aggressive punk-rock music into the mainstream, introducing teenagers to rebellious punk fashions. It was also the decade of disco: Who can forget the image of John Travolta as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever decked out in a three-piece white leisure suit with his shirt collar open, his hand points towards the heavens as the lighted disco floor glares defiantly below him? While the turbulent decade ushered in Ms. magazine, Mood rings, Studio 54, Stephen King horror novels, and granola, it was also the decade in which over 25 million video game systems made their way into our homes, allowing Asteroids and Pac-Man games to be played out on televisions in living rooms throughout the country. Whether it was the boom of environmentalism or the bust of the Nixon administration and public life as we knew it, the era represented a profound shift in American society and culture.

Differentiate content, process, and product and promote content-area literacy with this dynamic kit about world cultures through time. This kit provides leveled informational texts featuring key historical themes and topics embedded within targeted literacy instruction. Teachers can assess comprehension of informational text using the included Culminating Activity. Additionally, teachers can use multimedia activities to engage students and extend learning. The 60 colorful Leveled Text Cards in this kit are written at four distinct reading levels, each card featuring subtle symbols that denote differentiated reading levels, making differentiation strategies easy to implement. Leveled Texts for Differentiated Content-Area Literacy: World Cultures Through Time Complete Kit includes: Leveled Text Cards; digital resources; Lessons; a Culminating Activity; Tiered Graphic Organizers; Assessment Tools; and audio recordings (of thematic raps and leveled texts).