The new textbook is now available as a free pdf at https://anth101.com/book/ There are 7 new chapters, including some new material on the anthropology of “the good life” and a chapter on “love in four cultures.” I think these will make great additions. Still more work to be done for future editions, so let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas.
Here is a rundown of changes in the new edition:
- The entire book has been professionally edited.
- The lessons are now clearly categorized into familiar topics (fieldwork, culture, evolution, language, infrastructure, social structure, superstructure, etc.)
- Lessons 1 – 5 stayed more or less the same with only minor changes
- Lesson 6 now includes a great new chapter on Love in Four Cultures
- Lesson 7 is expanded with 2 new chapters. One on big questions about morality (questions students love to debate) and another on religion.
- Lesson 8 now has the story of Gandhi integrated into it.
- Lesson 9 has a new chapter on the anthropology of “the good life” and some expanded sections on the anthropology of storytelling
- Lesson 10 is now centered on the life and work of Paul Farmer (the stories of Malala and Mandela were deleted)
- Each lesson now includes a “Learn More” section that references the key texts in the lesson
- Each challenge now includes a clear learning objective.
- There are additional worksheets for challenges 9 and 10
Overall I am very excited about the changes and think it will make for a great resource for teaching.
Plans for this coming year:
- Invite more contributions from others (articles and videos) to expand the resources available for teaching
- Create a “teacher’s guide” that will include in-class activities for each week of the course.
Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.
