Cultural Anthropology: A Global Perspective (8th Edition)
In This Section: I. Author BioII. Author Letter I. Author Bio Raymond Scupinis Professor of Anthropology and International Studies in Lindenwood University. He received his B.A. degree in history and Asian studies, with a minor in anthropology, from the University of California- Angeles. He completed his M.A. and Ph. D degrees in anthropology at the University of California-Santa Barbara. Dr.Scupin is truly a four-field anthropologist. During graduate school, Dr. Scupin did archaeological and ethnohistorical research on Native Americans in the Santa Barbara region. He did extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Thailand with a focus on understanding the ethnic and religious movements among the Muslin minority. In addition, he taught linguistics and conducted linguistic research while based at a Thai University. Dr.Scupin has been teaching undergraduate courses in anthropology for more than 30 years at a variety of academic institutions, including community colleges, research universities, and a four-year liberal arts university. Thus, he has taught a very broad spectrum of undergraduate students. Through his teaching experience, Dr.Scupin was prompted to write this textbook, which would allow a wide range of undergraduate students to understand the holistic and global perspectives of the four-field approach in anthropology. In 1999, Dr.Scupin received the Missouri Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr.Scupin has published many studies on his ethnographic research in Thailand. He recently returned to Thailand and other countries of Southeast Asia to update his ethnographic data on Islamic trends in that area, an increasingly important topic in the post 9/11 world. He is a member of many professional associations, including the American Anthropological Association, the Asian Studies Association, and the Council of Thai Studies. Dr, Scupin has recently authoredReligion and culture: An Anthropological Focusand Race andEthnicity: An Anthropological Focus on the U.S. and the World, andPeoples and Cultures of Asia, all published by Prentice Hall Press.  II. Author Letter Dear colleague I would like to introduce some of the new features in the eighth edition of Cultural anthropology: a global perspective. This textbook was inspired by one of the first  anthropology textbooks published by prentice hall press authored by the late Eric wolf who emphasized that anthropology has always been scientific and humanistic. Wolf said that "anthropology is both the most scientific of the humanities and the most humanistic of the sciences." (1964:88). We think that this perspective is as relevant today as ever. Eric was kind enough to offer suggestions in developing the first edition of this textbook and we have continued to emphasize his holistic and global focus throughout the different editions. We emphasize what we call the "synthetic-complementary approach" that views the scientific method and the methods within the humanities as complementary and suggest that both perspectives are needed to help explain and understand human behavior and cultures. To achieve our holistic and global focus with coverage of both the classic and the most current research in anthropology, we have had the assistance of many anthropologists who have used and reviewed our textbook for this eighth edition. We have updated and refined all of our chapters in the textbook drawing on the most current research by anthropologists doing research throughout the world. I invite you to consider this new edition of cultural anthropology: a Global Perspective 8th edition to introduce your students to the most current, interesting, and exciting research in our field. You will be able to demonstrate how important anthropological research is to understanding the human condition. Sincerely yours, Raymond ScupinLindenwood Universityrscupin@lindenwood.edu