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
Cànan tro Òrain: Lesson Plans Centred on Gaelic Song
Ed MacDonell and Heather Sparling
2022
Licence: CC BY-NC
Cànan tro Òrain is an open online Scottish Gaelic language educational resource for instructors. It contains language and culture lesson plans based on Gaelic song. Teachers are encouraged to use these lessons and adapt them to their individual needs.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB
ClicaBrasil: Portuguese Language and Culture for Intermediate Students
Vivian Flanzer (University of Texas)
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
ClicaBrasil was developed for intermediate-level Portuguese language courses at UT-Austin. People all over the world are now using it for different purposes: self-study, classroom instruction, tutoring, or as a pastime. The lessons in ClicaBrasil integrate reading, writing, listening and reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, oral communication, and cultural activities. Numerous video clips (157, to be precise!) show different Brazilians speaking about their lives, their culture, and their country support and enhance these activities.
Formats: PDF
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: CLST 201
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
From Goethe to Gundolf: Essays on German Literature and Culture
Roger Paulin
2021
Licence: CC BY
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
Interpreting Love Narratives in East Asian Literature and Film
John R. Wallace
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC
This book explores the role of traditional East Asian worldviews, ethical values, and common practices in the shaping of East Asian narratives in literature and film.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB, and more
Korean Through Folktales
KyungAh Yoon (Portland State University)
2017
Licence: CC BY-NC
Through the selected folktales and various activities offered in the book, students can gain cultural knowledge and insights into traditional and cultural values. They will also receive linguistic lessons to reinforce their acquired skills and to apply the learned materials in an integrated approach. This book is designed to accompany first-, second-, and third-year Korean courses.
Formats: Online, PDF
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
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: CLST 201
Spanish I: Beginning Spanish Language and Culture
Matthew Dean (Humboldt State University)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
This peer-reviewed textbook contains themed chapters, which are divided into 8 sections. Each section has its own set of learning objectives, and is further separated into three types of assignments, Para estudiar en casa (with detailed explanations), Para practicar en casa (homework exercises), and Para practicar en clase (paired and group classwork activities). The individual exercises are geared towards acquisition of form and function, and the communicative classwork exercises promote interpersonal exchanges between students.
Formats: PDF
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
Suggested for: CLST 325
Tajik Persian: Readings in History, Culture and Society
Razi Ahmad
2016
Licence: CC BY-NC
This book seeks to help students develop reading proficiency in Tajik at advanced level through authentic texts written for native speakers and provides them glimpses into the history, culture and society of Tajikistan without losing its focus on cultural aspects of the country.
Formats: PDF