29 Cultural Studies
The Art of Being Human: A Textbook for Cultural Anthropology
Michael Wesch (Kansas State University)
2018
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
Anthropology is the study of all humans in all times in all places. But it is so much more than that. “Anthropology requires strength, valor, and courage,” Nancy Scheper-Hughes noted. “Pierre Bourdieu called anthropology a combat sport, an extreme sport as well as a tough and rigorous discipline. … It teaches students not to be afraid of getting one’s hands dirty, to get down in the dirt, and to commit yourself, body and mind. Susan Sontag called anthropology a “heroic” profession.” What is the payoff for this heroic journey? You will find ideas that can carry you across rivers of doubt and over mountains of fear to find the light and life of places forgotten. Real anthropology cannot be contained in a book. You have to go out and feel the world’s jagged edges, wipe its dust from your brow, and at times, leave your blood in its soil. In this unique book, Dr. Michael Wesch shares many of his own adventures of being an anthropologist and what the science of human beings can tell us about the art of being human.
Formats: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, and iBooks
Suggested for: CLST 201, ANTH 275
Cultural Anthropology
Tracy Evans (Santa Ana College) (Lumen Learning)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
Based on the Lumen Learning course of the same title, Cultural Anthropology offers an introduction to the study of human cultures, their beliefs, practices, values, ideas, technologies, economies and other domains of social and cognitive organization through first-hand experience or participant observation within living populations of humans.
Formats: Online and PDF
Suggested for: ANTH 275
Food Studies: Matter, Meaning, Movement 
Edited by David Szanto; Amanda Di Battista (Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies), and Irena Knezevic (Carleton University)
2022
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
Food Studies aims to help readers understand and address numerous issues within food, food culture, and food systems. These subjects transcend disciplinary boundaries and call attention to how matter, meaning, and movement produce complex and dynamic food-human realities. Chapters range from sovereignty to breastfeeding, financialization to food porn, pollination to fair trade. Embedded throughout, art, poetry, illustration, and audiovisual works offer moments to reflect on and synthesize the text-based entries. Through reading, classroom discussion, and engaging with the extensive pedagogical tools, learners and teachers alike may acquire a new sense of things foodish—along with a new sense of their own place and role within food systems themselves.
Formats: Online, EPUB and PDF
Suggested for: CLST 201
Global History and New Polycentric Approaches
Manuel Perez Garcia, Lucio De Sousa
2018
Licence: CC BY
This edited open access volume considers how global issues are connected with our local and national communities.
Formats: PDF, EPUB
Languages and Worldview
Manon Allard-Kropp (University of Missouri–St. Louis)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
Asking and answering questions about what culture entails and examines the fundamental properties and intertwining nature of language and culture. This text explores linguistic relativity, lexical differences among languages and intercultural communication, including high and low contexts.
Formats: PDF
Suggested for: CLST 201
Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology, Second Edition
Edited by Nina Brown (Community College of Baltimore Country), Thomas McIlwraith (University of Guelph), and Laura Tubelle de González (San Diego Miramar College) (American Anthropological Association)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC
This peer-reviewed textbook is a collection of chapters on the essential topics in cultural anthropology. Different from other introductory textbooks, this book is an edited volume with each chapter written by a different author. Each author has written from their experiences working as an anthropologist and that personal touch makes for an accessible introduction to cultural anthropology.
Formats: Online, PDF, and EPUB
Suggested for: ANTH 275
Speaking of Culture
Nolan Weil
Licence: CC BY-NC
The purpose of this textbook is to define culture and other concepts associated with it. This book will help you to better understand the breadth of the concept of culture and provide a vocabulary for discussing it more articulately. Culture is a broad concept that cuts across many academic disciplines. This book touches on anthropology, biology, history, mythology, political science, psychology, and sociology.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB
