Time and time again, we have observed that most students enter an introductory anthropology class intrigued by the general subject but with little more than a vague sense of what it is all about. Thus the first and most obvious task of our text is to provide a thorough introduction to the discipline—its foundations as a domain of knowledge and its major insights into the rich diversity of humans as a culture-making species.
In doing this, we draw from the research and ideas of a number of traditions of anthropological thought, exposing students to a mix of theoretical perspectives and methodologies. Such inclusiveness reflects our conviction that different approaches offer distinctly important insights about human biology, behavior, and beliefs in the past and in the present.
If most students start out with only a vague sense of what anthropology is, they often have less clear and potentially more problematic views of the superiority of their own species and culture. A second task for this text, then, is to prod students to appreciate the rich complexity and breadth of human biology and behavior. Along with this is the aim of helping them understand why there are so many differences and similarities in the human condition, past and present.
Debates regarding globalization and notions of progress, the “naturalness” of the mother/father/child(ren) nuclear family, new genetic technologies, and how gender roles relate to biological variation all benefit greatly from the fresh and often fascinating insights gained through anthropology. This probing aspect of our discipline is perhaps the most valuable gift we can pass on to those who take our classes. If we, as teachers (and textbook authors), do our jobs well, students will gain a wider and more open-minded outlook on the world and a critical but constructive perspective on human origins and on their own biology and culture today. To borrow a favorite line from the famous poet T. S. Eliot, “the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time” (Four Quartets).
There has never been as great a need for students to acquire the anthropological tools to help them escape culture-bound ways of thinking and acting and to gain more tolerance for other ways of life. Thus we have written this text, in large part, to help students make sense of our increasingly complex world and to navigate through its interrelated biological and cultural networks with knowledge and skill, whatever professional path they take. We see the book as a guide for people entering the often bewildering maze of global crossroads in the 21st century.
World History
