Cultural Anthropology: A Global Perspective (3rd Edition) - Softcover

This popular introduction to cultural anthropology integrates an historical and global approach with the ethnographic data available from around the world. Drawing on both classic and recent research in the field, it reflects the current state-of-the-art understanding of social and cultural changes based on the relationships among different types of societies. It demonstrates the diversity of different societies and cultural patterns, but also shows humans everywhere are fundamentally similar.

Raymond Scupin is professor of anthropology at Lindenwood University. He received his B.A. degree in history and Asian studies, with a minor in anthropology, from the University of California-Los Angeles. He completed his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology at the University of California-Santa Barbara. Dr. Scupin is truly a four-field anthropologist. During graduate school, Dr. Scupin did archaeological and ethnohistorical research on Native American Indians in the Santa Barbara region. He did extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Thailand, with a focus on understanding the ethnic and religious movements among the Muslim minority. In addition, he taught linguistics and conducted linguistic research while based at a Thai university.

Dr. Scupin has been teaching undergraduate courses in anthropology for almost thirty years at a variety of academic institutions, including community colleges, research universities, and a four-year liberal arts university. Thus, he has taught a very broad spectrum of undergraduate students. Through his teaching experience, Dr. Scupin was prompted to write this textbook, which would allow a wide range of undergraduate students to understand the holistic and global perspectives of the four-field approach in anthropology.

Dr. Scupin has published many essays based on his ethnographic research in Thailand. He recently returned to Thailand and other countries of Southeast Asia to update his ethnographic data. He is a member of many professional associations, including the American Anthropological Association, the Asian Studies Association, and the Council of Thai Studies.