Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge

The book’s opening chapter introduces students to the holistic discipline of anthropology, the unique focus of each of its four fi elds, and the common philosophical and methodological approaches they share. Touching briefl y on fi eldwork and the comparative method, along with ethical issues and examples of applied anthropology in all four fi elds, this chapter provides a foundation for an entirely new fi eld methods chapter that looks at the history, methods, and theory of doing ethnographic fi eldwork. An Anthropology Applied box on forensic anthropology and archaeology illustrates the importance of forensics in the investigations of international human rights abuses. Two boxed features help illustrate the interconnection of biology and culture in the human experience: Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala’s compelling Original Study, “Fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa: Traditional Healers on the Front Line,” and a Biocultural Connection highlighting Margaret Lock’s cross-cultural research on human organ transplantation. The impact of the Biocultural Connection is strengthened by a new Globalscape, which profi les a particular organ donor. The chapter closes with a section titled “Anthropology and Globalization,” in which we show the relevance of anthropology to several of today’s most signifi cant social and political issues.