The Essence of Anthropology

Filled with current examples, THE ESSENCE OF ANTHROPOLOGY brings to life anthropology’s key concepts and their great relevance to today’s complex world. You’ll learn about the varied ways culture helps humans adapt to face the challenges of existence, the connection between human culture and human biology, and the impact of globalization on peoples and cultures around the world. Furthermore, the book is packed with learning tools that demonstrate major concepts, offer interesting examples of anthropology’s relevance to daily life, and guide your study to help you retain what you read.

William A. Haviland is professor emeritus at the University of Vermont, where he founded the Department of Anthropology and taught for 32 years. He holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and has conducted research in archaeology in Guatemala and Vermont; ethnography in Maine and Vermont; and physical anthropology in Guatemala. This work has been the basis of many publications in national and international books and journals, as well as in trade publications. His books include The Original Vermonters, co-authored with Marjorie Power, and a technical monograph on ancient Maya settlement. He served as consultant for the award-winning telecourse Faces of Culture, and he is co-editor of the series Tikal Reports, published by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Dr. Haviland has lectured to many professional and 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 Abenaki of Vermont in a case over aboriginal fishing rights. Dr. Haviland received the University Scholar award 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 and serves as a trustee for the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, focused on Maine's Native American history, culture, art, and archaeology. His most recent books are At the Place of the Lobsters and Crabs (2009) and Canoe Indians of Down East Maine (2012).

Dana Walrath, an award-winning writer, artist and anthropologist, is a faculty member of University of Vermont's College of Medicine. After earning her PhD in medical and biological anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, she taught there and at Temple University. Dr. Walrath broke new ground in paleoanthropology through her work on the evolution of human childbirth. She has also written on a wide range of topics related to gender in paleoanthropology, the social production of sickness and health, sex differences, genetics, and evolutionary medicine. Her work has appeared in edited volumes and in journals such as Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, and Anthropology Now. Her books include Aliceheimer's, a graphic memoir, and Like Water on Stone, a verse novel. She developed a novel curriculum in medical education at the University of Vermont's College of Medicine that brings humanism, anthropological theory and practice, narrative medicine, and professional skills to first-year medical students. She has an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has exhibited her artwork in North America and Europe. Her recent work in the field of graphic medicine combines anthropology with memoir and visual art. Spanning a variety of disciplines, her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Templeton Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Vermont Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She spent 2012-2013 as a Fulbright Scholar at the American University of Armenia and the Institute of Ethnography and Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. She is working on a second graphic memoir that combines her Aliceheimer's work with her fieldwork on aging and memory in Armenia.

Carol Ann (Bunny) McBride 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. With an MA from Columbia University, she is highly rated as a teacher and has taught at the Salt Institute for Documentary Field Studies and as visiting anthropology faculty at Principia College. Since 1996, she has been an adjunct lecturer of anthropology at Kansas State University. Her many publication credits include the books Women of the Dawn, Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in Paris, and Our Lives in Our Hands: Micmac Indian Basketmakers; chapters in multiple books; and several co-authored books, including Indians in Eden and The Audubon Field Guide to African Wildlife. Working on a range of issues and projects with Maine Indian tribes since 1981, McBride received a commendation from the Maine state legislature for her research and writing on the history of Native women. Boston Globe Sunday Magazine featured a profile about her, and Maine Public Television made a documentary about her work on Molly Spotted Elk. Recently, she served as investigator for a National Park Service ethnography project and curated several museum exhibits. Her exhibit, "Indians & Rusticators," received a Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History (2012). She currently serves as president of the Women's World Summit Foundation based in Switzerland, and is wrapping up two books (with co-author Harald Prins): From Indian Island to Omaha Beach: Charles Norman Shay, Penobscot Indian War Hero; and Native Americans in Seacoast Maine: A Natural and Cultural History of Mount Desert Island.

Harald E.L. Prins is a University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University (KSU). Academically trained at half a dozen Dutch and U.S. universities, he came to the U.S. as a List Fellow at the New School for Social Research in New York City. He has taught at Radboud University (Netherlands), as well as Bowdoin College and Colby College in Maine, and as a visiting professor at the University of Lund, Sweden. He has received numerous honors for his teaching, including the Conoco Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching in 1993, Presidential Award in 1999, Coffman Chair of Distinguished Teaching Scholars in 2004, Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year for Kansas in 2006, and the AAA/Oxford University Press Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching of Anthropology in 2010. His fieldwork focuses on indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere, and he has long served as an advocacy anthropologist on land claims and other native rights. In that capacity, Dr. Prins has been a lead expert witness in both the U.S. Senate and Canadian federal courts. He has refereed for 40 academic book publishers and journals. His own numerous academic publications appear in nine languages, with books including The Mi'kmaq: Resistance, Accommodation, and Cultural Survival (Margaret Mead Award finalist). Also trained in filmmaking, he served as president of the Society for Visual Anthropology, and has coproduced award-winning documentaries. He has been the visual anthropology editor of American Anthropologist, co-principal investigator for the U.S. National Park Service, international observer in Paraguay's presidential elections, and a research associate at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.