Anthropology Anywhere

Lauren Elizabeth Miller is associate professor of anthropology at Texas Tech University. She is the author of In Search of Legitimacy: How Outsiders Become Part of the Afro-Brazilian Capoeira Tradition (2016), Apprenticeship Pilgrimage (2018), and Graceful Resistance (2023). She studies performance and tourism in Latin America and the U.S.

Lauren Miller’s Anthropology Anywhere reflects the skilled pedagogy of a dedicated educator with the sophistication and insightfulness of an experienced anthropologist. Readable, relatable and accessible, Anthropology Anywhere offers a fresh approach to learning cultural anthropology that is at once engaging and engrossing.

• Part I Thinking Anthropologically:Works Cited01 What is Anthropology?Goals of the DisciplineWhat Makes Anthropology UniqueHistorical FoundationsBecoming "Anthropology"Four-Field AnthropologyA Brief Note Regarding Applied AnthropologyBridging Anthropology's "Divides"Understanding Globalization: Culturally Specific Forms of TraumaSignature Perspectives in AnthropologySo, What Does it Mean to Think Like an Anthropologist?A Question-Focused ApproachCase Study #1: Sacred CowsDiscussion QuestionsWorks Cited02 What is Culture?Ethnocentrism and Cultural RelativismCultural UniversalsSociety and Culture Are Not the SameLearning CultureCultures in ContextInternalization of NormsUnderstanding Globalization: Pet or Pot LickerThe Nature/Nurture ConundrumConclusionCase Study #2: "He'll Have a Pink Lady"Discussion QuestionsWorks Cited03 How Do We Know?The Uniqueness of Anthropological FieldworkResearch Questions and LocationsParticipant ObservationWorking with Cultural ConsultantsText AnalysisAdditional MethodsEthics of Doing Anthropological ResearchUnderstanding Globalization: Continual Changes in FieldworkEthics of RepresentationConclusionCase Study #3: Anthropology is Out of This WorldDiscussion QuestionsWorks CitedPart I SynthesisWorks CitedPart II Cultural Transmission04 Communicating with OthersSemioticsCultural MetaphorsMechanics of Human LanguageLanguage and CognitionLanguage and SocietyLanguage ChangeUnderstanding GlobalizationNon-Verbal CommunicationConclusionCase Study #4: Small-Town Beauty PageantsDiscussion QuestionsWorks Cited05 Performing Culture and Cultural PerformanceDefining PerformancePerforming CultureSocial Life as PerformanceStudying Cultural PerformancesTraining/RehearsalPerformance EventsUnderstanding Globalization: Hawaiian HulaArt and PowerGlobalization of PerformanceConclusionCase Study #5: Best to Never Hear ItDiscussion QuestionsWorks Cited06 The Things we Believe to be TrueBelief SystemsSacred StoriesRitual BehaviorReligionAnimatismAnimismAncestral SpiritsBelief in Personified DeitiesRole SpecializationMagic and Manipulation of the SupernaturalUnderstanding Globalization: The Promise and Perils of Globalized YogaGlobalization, Social Change, and ReligionConclusionCase Study #6: Where No Pilgrim Has Gone BeforeDiscussion QuestionsWorks CitedPart II SynthesisWorks CitedPart III Assigning Meaning to DifferenceWorks Cited07 Fictions and Realities of RaceIntroductionIdentityRace is Not a Scientifically Valid ConceptIdeologically Motivated Pseudo-ScienceRace is a Social ConstructHuman ZoosEnduring Problems Related to RaceUnderstanding Globalization: Roots Tourism to AfricaEthnic IdentityConclusionCase Study #7: Aboriginal Health MattersDiscussion QuestionsWorks Cited08 Gender Identities an IdeologiesIntroductionGender/SexGender PerformativityHistory of Anthropology's Treatment of Gender/SexAlternatives to Binary SystemsGender/Sex StratificationThe Violence of Hegemonic Gender/Sex IdeologiesUnderstanding Globalization: Iranian ProtestsGlobal FeminismsConclusionCase Study #8: Gender-Inclusive Summer CampDiscussion QuestionsWorks Cited09 Relationships and BelongingIntroductionKinshipSexualityUnderstanding Globalization: Human Rights Protests at the World CupForming FamiliesPatterns of DescentImplications of Marriage and Family OrganizationChanges to MarriageOpting Out of MarriageChildrearingConclusionCase Study #9: A Kidnapped BrideDiscussion QuestionsWorks CitedPart III SynthesisWorks CitedPart IV Social Mechanisms10 Strategies for Thriving in Varied EnvironmentsIntroductionModes of SubsistenceForagingFood ProductionAlternatives to the Predominant Modes of SubsistenceCraft SpecializationConsumptionHuman Impacts on the EnvironmentSustainabilityUnderstanding Globalization: Eating Well on VacationEnvironmental JusticeConclusionCase Study #10: The Fate of the CommonsDiscussion QuestionsWorks Cited11 ExchangeIntroductionModes of ExchangeUnderstanding Globalization: The Double-Edged Sword of TourismPolitical EconomyWorld Systems TheoryInequalityLabor MigrationResistance to Exploitative World SystemsConclusionCase Study #11: Economic Ramifications of Border ControlDiscussion QuestionsWorks Cited12 Systems of GovernanceIntroductionKey Components of Social GroupsClassical Classification Systems: Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, and StatesDominance of StatesUnderstanding Globalization: AntarcticaSovereignty in the Shadow of EmpireRecourses of the SubalternConclusionCase Study #12: A Right to Bear Arms?Discussion QuestionsWorks CitedPart IV SynthesisWorks Cited13 Anthropology AnywhereGlobalizationCultural MyopiaThe Future of AnthropologyConclusionWorks CitedGlossary