World Cultures

The publication of Murdock’s Ethnographic Atlas in 1967 marked the first time that descriptive information on the peoples of the world—primitive, historical, and contemporary—had been systematically organized for the purposes of comparative research. In this volume, Murdock has completely revised this work, selecting 563 societies that are most fully and accurately described in ethnographic literature. The identification of each society gives its geographical coordinates and date, its identifying number in the Ethnographic Atlas, and an indication of whether it is included in the Human Relations Area Files or the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. In addition, bibliographical references are offered for each society. The information and suggested research techniques will be of value to comparativists in anthropology, history, political science, psychology and sociology. Most importantly, it offers a simple method fro choosing a valid sample of the world’s known societies for cross-cultural research.

From the foremost authority on history and civilization comes the definitive guide to world cultures--showcasing human diversity in all its vast and startling richness. 235 color photographs and 37 maps.

"Remarkable...mesmerizing...compelling.... An entire world unfolds in Tolstoyan tide of event and detail....Give yourself over to the world Ms. Tan creates for you." —The New York Times Book Review Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past—including the terrible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events that led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949. The Kitchen God's Wife is "a beautiful book" (Los Angeles Times) from the bestselling author of novels like The Joy Luck Club and The Backyard Bird Chronicles, and the memoir, Where the Past Begins.

Traits that signal belonging dictate our daily routines, including how we eat, move, and connect to others. In recent years, "fat" has emerged as a shared anchor in defining who belongs and is valued versus who does not and is not. The stigma surrounding weight transcends many social, cultural, political, and economic divides. The concern over body image shapes not only how we see ourselves, but also how we talk, interact, and fit into our social networks, communities, and broader society. Fat in Four Cultures is a co-authored comparative ethnography that reveals the shared struggles and local distinctions of how people across the globe are coping with a bombardment of anti-fat messages. Highlighting important differences in how people experience "being fat," the cases in this book are based on fieldwork by five anthropologists working together simultaneously in four different sites across the globe: Japan, the United States, Paraguay, and Samoa. Through these cases, Fat in Four Cultures considers what insights can be gained through systematic, cross-cultural comparison. Written in an eye-opening and narrative-driven style, with clearly defined and consistently used key terms, this book effectively explores a series of fundamental questions about the present and future of fat and obesity.

Over centuries many cultures have developed around the world. Each culture has had its own customs and traditions. Sometimes different cultures come together to share certain aspects. Discover how one culture can have a lasting impact on another culture. Learn how cultures from long ago have influenced our lives today, from the words we use to the way our government is run.

This book analyses the way that HIV/AIDS is often narrativised and represented in contemporary world cultures, as well as the different strategies of remembrance deployed by different (sub)cultural groups affected by the illness. Through a close study of a variety of cultural texts; including cinema, literature, theatre, art and photography amongst others, it demonstrates the trajectory that such narratives and representations have undergone since the advent of the ’discovery’ of the disease in the 1980s. Acknowledging the central - yet often overlooked - role that cultural products have played in the construction of public opinion towards the condition itself and those who suffer it, this ground-breaking volume focuses on a variety of narratives, as well as strategies of coping with HIV/AIDS that have emerged across the globe. Bringing together research on the UK, North and South America, Africa and China, it provides rich textual analyses of the ways in which the HIV positive body has been portrayed in contemporary culture, with attention to the differences between specific national contexts, whilst keeping in view a space of commonality amongst the different experiences reflected in such texts. As such, it will be of interest to social scientists and scholars of cultural and media studies, concerned with cultural production and representations of the body and sickness.

Differentiate content, process, and product and promote content-area literacy with this dynamic kit about world cultures through time. This kit provides leveled informational texts featuring key historical themes and topics embedded within targeted literacy instruction. Teachers can assess comprehension of informational text using the included Culminating Activity. Additionally, teachers can use multimedia activities to engage students and extend learning. The 60 colorful Leveled Text Cards in this kit are written at four distinct reading levels, each card featuring subtle symbols that denote differentiated reading levels, making differentiation strategies easy to implement. Leveled Texts for Differentiated Content-Area Literacy: World Cultures Through Time Complete Kit includes: Leveled Text Cards; digital resources; Lessons; a Culminating Activity; Tiered Graphic Organizers; Assessment Tools; and audio recordings (of thematic raps and leveled texts).

Grab your passport to discover primary sources related to each of eight different cultures with activities to help teach important fluency strategies. While learning about people and cultures from around the world, students make content-area connections, develop fluent and meaningful oral reading, and develop vocabulary and word decoding skills. Included with each text is a history connection, a vocabulary connection, and extension ideas. This resource is aligned to the interdisciplinary themes from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and supports Common Core State Standards. 192pp.