Shared Voices: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Reviewed by Sanaa Riaz, Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 10/27/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

Instead of carrying a stand-alone chapter on gender, how gender factors into subsistence, language and other aspects of culture has been incorporated into each chapter. That said, educators looking to provide an introductory overview of gender and religion, family, kinship and marriage, race and ethnicity, health, performance, media anthropology or public anthropology to their students will be disappointed in the limited scope of the textbook.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The textbook is accurate, error-free and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The textbook uses classic examples in anthropology, such as those of the Trobriand Island Kula Ring, Native American potlatch and a few examples from Indigenous North American, Canadian and African groups. While there is immense value in these, the textbook does not address ethnographic studies conducted in the last 40 years to bring out the breathe of approaches and new sub-fields they have informed.

Clarity rating: 5

The textbook fits its description of bringing a short introduction to cultural anthropology to students without discipline-specific jargon and technical language. The textbook is written in accessible prose with introductory readers in mind.

Consistency rating: 5

Each chapter contains a glossary of terms. The idea is for readers to not be interrupted by bold terms followed by running or short definitions and instead find the complete definition in the glossary. In that regard, the text is internally consistent in terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is not self-referential which, in the spirit of Open Educational Resources allows for chapters and sections to be parsed and assigned in course syllabi with ease. Chapter introductions have not been written with the assumption that the reader will have arrived at the chapter content after reviewing a previous chapter or related content on an aspect of culture. Each chapter page contains a combination of terms in bold, section headings and/or text boxes to avoid long blocks of text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book follows a logical and clear organization accessible to experts and non-experts. Topics also move logically from an introduction to anthropology to the cultural anthropology sub-field to ethnographic fieldwork methods to various aspects of culture.

Interface rating: 5

There are no problems saving the book as a PDF document or accessing it online to customize it. Saving the book as a PDF file does not change image size or rotations or table column width and text alignment. All text boxes, images, figures and tables included in the textbook are accessible. The textbook contains no grammatical errors.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The textbook contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The textbook provides inclusive and culturally-sensitive information to students in an accessible, jargon-free manner. The cultural examples included show respect for all lifeways and social identities.

Comments

For those looking for a comprehensive study of ethnographic fieldwork methods and ethics and modes of subsistence, this would be a good OER to parse and assign. However, those looking for a modern introduction to culture with robust and comprehensive discussions on gender, race, ethnicity, political ideologies and power, contributions in political economy of cultural lifeways in a global environment, in applied anthropology, public anthropology and in the ethnographic approach in the last 40 years, innovations in qualitative research methods and in various professional avenues where anthropological insight is positively contributing will be underwhelmed.

Reviewed by Sharon Methvin, Part Time Instructor, Mount Hood Community College on 6/21/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

I so love what it offers, but stops at political and thus stops short of all social institutions.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

I think it is well supported with points but the bulk does not give credit for where it is sourced.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

So great on connecting with our students. And making our field interesting and alive with up to date examples and relevant. easy to understand concepts.

Clarity rating: 5

Clear and easy to follow.

Consistency rating: 5

Each chapter follows a template and is clear.

Modularity rating: 4

Self supporting.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Follows traditional format, but did they run out of time to complete all the social institutions and projections?

Interface rating: 3

Not sure as little web and other social media were included.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Not noted

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Examples were natural and easy

Comments

Great readability! Kinda stopped midpath in our journey. Great examples and photos. Would love to see more integration of social media and photos.