Designed for the Introduction to Humanities curriculum, this volume guides students from the Paleolithic through Greco-Roman culture and the arts of India and China. It also serves as a supplement in courses on prehistory, classical history, or Greek and Roman literature.

The penultimate volume in this series chronicles the move towards modernism, covering the arts, politics, and philosophy from the end of the 1700s to the dawn of the twentieth century. Using literary and musical excerpts to illuminate discussions, Fiero addresses important events and discoveries of the nineteenth century world. Volume five begins with the art and literature of the Romantic era, and concludes with coverage of the shifting aesthetics of the late nineteenth century. As in previous volumes, Volume Five includes a range of vivid illustrations and images throughout the text to enhance the material.

The Posthuman offers both an introduction and major contribution to contemporary debates on the posthuman. Digital 'second life', genetically modified food, advanced prosthetics, robotics and reproductive technologies are familiar facets of our globally linked and technologically mediated societies. This has blurred the traditional distinction between the human and its others, exposing the non-naturalistic structure of the human. The Posthuman starts by exploring the extent to which a post-humanist move displaces the traditional humanistic unity of the subject. Rather than perceiving this situation as a loss of cognitive and moral self-mastery, Braidotti argues that the posthuman helps us make sense of our flexible and multiple identities. Braidotti then analyzes the escalating effects of post-anthropocentric thought, which encompass not only other species, but also the sustainability of our planet as a whole. Because contemporary market economies profit from the control and commodification of all that lives, they result in hybridization, erasing categorical distinctions between the human and other species, seeds, plants, animals and bacteria. These dislocations induced by globalized cultures and economies enable a critique of anthropocentrism, but how reliable are they as indicators of a sustainable future? The Posthuman concludes by considering the implications of these shifts for the institutional practice of the humanities. Braidotti outlines new forms of cosmopolitan neo-humanism that emerge from the spectrum of post-colonial and race studies, as well as gender analysis and environmentalism. The challenge of the posthuman condition consists in seizing the opportunities for new social bonding and community building, while pursuing sustainability and empowerment.

Book 4: Faith, Reason, And Power In The Early Modern World - Book 5: Romanticism, Realism, And The Nineteenth-Century World--Book 6: Modernism, Globalism, And The Information Age.