Robert H. Lavenda is Professor of Anthropology at St. Cloud State University, and is director of the Latin American Studies Program. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Indiana University in 1977 and has done fieldwork in Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and small-town Minnesota. He is the author of Corn Fests and Water Carnivals: Celebrating Community in Minnesota, numerous articles on festivals and play, and is co-author of three anthropology textbooks. His special interests are play, festival behavior, world view, culture and communication, Latin America, and North American culture.
"
Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology is comprehensible, well structured, and not overloaded with information, which makes it ideal for introductory classes. I recommend the book without hesitation."--Ralph M. Becker,
University of Northern Colorado "This is a fantastic supplement to course lectures and a companion to reading ethnographies."--Ana Croegaert,
University of New Orleans "
Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology provides students with a firm grounding in key anthropological concepts and allows me to assign a reader and ethnography in the course. This enables students to learn about how anthropology is practiced in a way that is far more in depth than any textbook could offer."-Carolyn Schwarz,
Goucher College "This book is beautifully written. Its clarity and intellectual approach to topics commonly explored in introduction to socio-cultural anthropology is impressive. It is one of the best textbooks I have read in years."--Orit Tamir,
New Mexico Highlands University